Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian held an extensive meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow today, on several international and regional issues. This occurred in the productive environment of a great shift, punctuated by the March 10 meeting in Beijing, brokered by Chinese President Xi Jinping, in which Iran and Saudi Arabia restored diplomatic relations.
One matter that Amirabdollahian and Lavrov discussed was the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCOA), in which the International Atomic Energy Agency would monitor Iran’s nuclear program in exchange, among other things, for sanctions relief. In 2018, then U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement.
“The window of dialogue is still open and one of the topics of the conversation with Mr. Lavrov is the JCPOA and the return of parties to their commitments,” Amirabdollahian said March 28 upon landing in Moscow.
After the meeting, Lavrov said, “We talked about the situation around the JCPOA on the Iranian nuclear program. We have a common understanding that there is no alternative to this international agreement, which was written down in the unanimously adopted UN Security Council Resolution 2231. We are in favor of the early resumption of the full implementation of this resolution and oppose actions that prevent this,” Sputnik International quoted him as saying.
Also discussed was U.S. sanctions. At a press conference, upon arriving at the Moscow airport March 28, Amirabdollahian said that U.S. sanctions were a “failed policy.” He said, “We believe that sanction is an economic terrorist instrument against the nations, but the Islamic Republic has managed the situation and has made the most of the opportunity of sanctions for progress in our country.” But he added, “The [U.S.] policy of sanctions is inefficient, incorrect and a terrorist war against the nation,” Tasnim quoted him as stating.
