US anti-Iran accusations to undermine JCPOA politically-motivated: Russia

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has criticized the United States for seeking to add unrelated matters to the Iran nuclear agreement, warning such efforts could undermine the deal.

"We are very much concerned about attempts made by a number of countries led by the United States to add unrelated matters to the debate on the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action)," the senior Russian diplomat told the TASS state news agency on Wednesday.

Ryabkov, who had led the Russian team in international negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, added that such bids were politically-motivated.

Among such unrelated matters "are statements on the allegedly negative role played by Iran in regional affairs, specifically, in some Middle Eastern countries. We believe these accusations are politically-motivated and aimed at throwing Iran off balance,” Ryabkov said.

In a statement on its website on Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Ryabkov had met in Tehran with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Ministers Abbas Araqchi and Majid Takht-Ravanchi and the director general for political and international security affairs at Iran's Foreign Ministry, Gholam Hossein Dehqani.

The ministry added that the officials had discussed the implementation of the JCPOA and agreed to continue to coordinate their efforts to safeguard the deal and protect their national interests, amid Washington’s continued attempts at undermining the agreement.

The Russian and Iranian officials also discussed other issues of mutual concern, according to the statement.

'JCPOA can't be renegotiated'

Prior to his meeting with Ryabkov, Araqchi rejected any possibility for renegotiating the nuclear deal.

“Our position on the JCPOA is crystal clear and so is the position of Russia, China and the three European countries (Britain, France and Germany)" that signed the agreement, he told reporters.

"There will be no renegotiation of the JCPOA. No word will be taken from or added to it,” he added.

Araqchi said there would also be no possibility for amendments to the deal.

“The JCPOA is a transparent international agreement for all the countries that are party to it, and it has been turned into an international commitment by the [UN] Security Council,” he said.

“All are duty-bound to live up to their commitments or they should accept any repercussions of their decision,” Araqchi warned.

The JCPOA was reached between Iran and six world powers -- the US, the UK, France, China, Russia and Germany -- in July, 2015. The deal puts limitations on parts of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for removing all nuclear-related sanctions.

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