Serious accusations from Russia - The EU is destructive, sabotaging the solution for the Iranian nuclear program

The European Union is preventing a negotiated solution to the issue of the Iranian nuclear program from being reached, denounced Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov in an interview with The International Affairsmagazine.

"European countries constitute the main obstacle to a negotiated settlement of the Iranian nuclear file," he stressed, adding that Russia supports its Iranian colleagues and friends in the search for an agreed solution. However, as he pointed out, the European Union "has turned everything upside down in its political and geopolitical games" and now "is the main factor sabotaging efforts for a solution through dialogue."

Destructive force

Ryabkov characterized the EU as an extremely destructive force in the modern system of international relations. "There is no other source of ideas and approaches so imbued with negative energy as Europe and the leading European capitals. This affects everything, and the Iranian nuclear file is no exception," he said.

On September 26, the UN Security Council rejected a draft resolution proposed by Russia and China for a six-month extension of Security Council Resolution 2231, which had been adopted to support the Iranian nuclear agreement. UN sanctions against Iran came into effect on September 28.

On September 29, the Council of the European Union decided to follow the E3 countries in reinstating certain sanctions against Iran. The measures include a travel ban for natural persons, an asset freeze for sanctioned individuals and legal entities, trade restrictions, asset freezes on the Central Bank of Iran and major Iranian banks, as well as measures to restrict cargo flights from Iran to European airports.

What the agreement provides

The JCPOA agreement, known as the Iranian nuclear agreement, was signed in 2015 by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany with Iran, ending the long-running dispute over Iran's alleged development of nuclear weapons. However, during his first term, US President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and reinstated all sanctions against Iran after they had been lifted under the agreement.

In response, Iran announced in 2020 that it would limit its commitments and the access of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), although inspections continued until the recent escalation of tensions with Israel.

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