MOSCOW: Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Moscow had received guarantees from Washington on its ability to trade with Tehran as part of ongoing talks to salvage the Iran nuclear deal.

“We received written guarantees. They are included in the text of the agreement itself on the resumption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear programme,” Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow with Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

More than 10 months of talks in Vienna have brought major powers close to renewing the landmark 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on regulating Iran’s nuclear programme.

The negotiations halted after Moscow earlier this month demanded guarantees that Western sanctions imposed following its military operation in Ukraine would not damage its trade with Iran.

Lavrov said that the guarantees it had received from Washington would protect Russian involvement in Iran’s sole Bushehr nuclear energy plant.

The minister said Moscow and Tehran share the position that Western sanctions are imposed with the aim of overriding international law and accused Washington and its partners of directing the penalties “primarily against ordinary citizens”.

The 2015 deal gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme. The agreement is aimed at ensuring Iran would not be able to develop a nuclear weapon, which it has always denied seeking.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2022