The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the Russian Foreign Ministry has said that the reversal of the initial 2015 accord is the only reasonable way forward.
Any Plan B in the talks on the Iranian nuclear program would violate the UN Security CouncilUN Security Council's decision on the issue and have unavoidable negative consequences for the entire Middle East, the Russian Foreign Ministry warned on Thursday.
Any deviation from the original 2015 deal or Plans B that some people like to speculate about would run counter to the consensus decisions of the UN Security CouncilUN Security Council, said Ivan Nechaev, the ministry spokesman, referring to a UNSC resolution supporting that year s agreement on the Iranian nuclear program.
Nechaev told reporters that the re-establishment of the existing deal in Vienna is the only reasonable and effective way forward. He also welcomed the latest round of indirect talks between the US and Iranian delegations in Vienna, which resulted in some progress on issues that had previously been a stumbling block in the negotiations.
Nechaev said that there are no irreconcilable differences between the parties and that a positive result of the talks is achievable. The diplomat said further progress would depend on each side's political will.
At the same time, Moscow slammed the EU for bullying tactics. Nechaev criticized Peter Stano, the spokesman for EU diplomatic chief Josep Borrell, as he said the language of ultimatums does not work in such a sensitive and high stakes issue.
Stano told reporters earlier this week that everything that could be negotiated between Tehran and Washington has been incorporated into the final version of the text that was compiled after the latest round of talks between Tehran and Washington, which was mediated by the EU. Stano said it was no more room for other compromises and that there is no more room for it. Borrell called the document the final text at the time.
On Thursday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Stano had no authority to make such statements on behalf of all parties involved in the talks. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action JCPOA was built on a carefully measured balance of interests and not crude political pressure, it added.
Nechaev told journalists on Thursday that the work on reviving the deal will only end when the interests of all parties involved are taken into account.
Washington developed a proposal for a mutual return to the nuclear deal with Iran last week. Tehran responded by saying that Washington must show its readiness to achieve a long-term result because the agreement relies primarily on the US will.
The Western media has been publishing pieces calling for Washington and Brussels to come up with a Plan B that can be used in the event of the Vienna negotiations. Some pieces openly called for Western governments to ditch the talks in favor of this option, which has yet to be devised. It is time for Plan B after the Iran nuclear deal is over, read an opinion piece by The Hill in early July. Biden should show Iran what Plan B looks like, according to a piece published by the Washington Post in mid-June.
Iran, the US, the UK, France and Germany, as well as Russia, China and the EU in 2015 agreed to a number of restrictions on Iran's nuclear industry in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions and other incentives.
The agreement was in limbo since 2018 when it was torpedoed by the US under then-President Donald Trump, who unilaterally withdrew from it. In response to the accord, Iran started gradually reducing its commitments, such as the level of enriched uranium it produces.
On August 1, Tehran announced that it has the technical ability to build an atomic bomb, but added that such a program is not on the agenda.