Sanctions Should Not Affect Iran’s Ties With Any Country

Iran’s cooperation with any country, including Russia, must not be affected by sanctions, the Iranian top diplomat said amid prospects of reviving the 2015 nuclear deal which would potentially restore Tehran’s relief from US sanctions. 
On a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Monday, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the Islamic Republic is opposed to both war and imposition of sanctions, IRNA reported.  
He made the remarks in reference to Russia’s military conflict in Ukraine and the bulk of western sanctions imposed on Moscow on this ground. 
Lavrov had said on Saturday that those sanctions had become a stumbling block for the nuclear deal, warning the West that Russian national interests would have to be taken into account.
He said Moscow wanted a written guarantee from the US that Russia’s free and full trade-economic, investment and military-technical cooperation with Iran would not be hindered in any way by the sanctions.
“We want an answer—a very clear answer—we need a guarantee that these sanctions will not in any way touch the regime of trade-economic and investment relations which is laid down in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” Lavrov said, using the nuclear deal’s formal name. 

Besides, he added, Russia and China would be allowed to help Iran develop its civilian nuclear programs in accordance with non-proliferation rules under the JCPOA, and sanctions would not be able to affect those projects either.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that sanctions imposed on Russia over its Ukraine conflict have nothing to do with a potential nuclear deal with Iran.
“These things are totally different and just are not, in any way, linked together. So I think that’s irrelevant,” he said. 
The developments came as talks on JCPOA revival in the Austrian capital Vienna seem to be nearing a conclusion, with delegates working to settle the final issues.
Only recently, Iran agreed to a roadmap with the International Atomic Energy Agency to resolve outstanding issues that could help secure the nuclear pact.
Amir-Abdollahian said a possible agreement in Vienna should pave the way for Iran’s diversified cooperation with other countries, including its partners. 
In the phone conversation, Lavrov also stressed the importance of expanding Tehran-Moscow cooperation in all sectors in light of a potential agreement on the nuclear deal. 
“The revival of the JCPOA must provide for all participants to have equal rights in relation to the unhindered development of cooperation in all areas without any discrimination,” he said. 
Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday that any demands with regard to the JCPOA must be received within the framework of Vienna negotiations.
“Let us hear a translation of this demand at the negotiating table to decide how it should be dealt with,” he told reporters. 
He stressed, however, that Iran’s peaceful nuclear cooperation with other countries, including Russia, must not be limited or subject to sanctions of any kind, especially if those bans are self-authorized and lacking a United Nations mandate.