Russia reiterates its commitment to the Iran nuclear deal, warning over the US possible withdrawal

Tabnak – As the deadline is looming for the United States to declare its position on the Iran nuclear deal, other parties of the landmark agreement are expressing their determination to keep it intact. As a close partner of Iran, Russia has once again reiterated its commitment to the deal.

Russia's Foreign Ministry says Moscow will continue to honor its commitments under the landmark 2015 nuclear deal Iran made with major world powers for as long as other countries abide by their obligations, the Interfax news agency reports.

Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday that her country would deem any changes to the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), to be unacceptable.

For his part, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday warned of the consequences of a possible US withdrawal from the deal with Iran, saying such a move will deprive the world of one of the key non-proliferation regimes.

"If the US, as President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated, announces withdrawal from this agreement, then of course all of us, the international community, will lose one of the most important tools contributing to ensuring the non-proliferation regime for weapons of mass destruction," he said.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Lavrov commented on a recent televised show by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during which he presented what he called documents on Iran’s “secret” nuclear work.

The top Russian diplomat said the Israeli data related to "past activities" that had already been taken into account by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He also urged Tel Aviv to immediately provide its purported documents on Iran to the UN nuclear agency.

"If Israel or anyone else received documents which allegedly prove Iran still has plans to develop nuclear weapons, then these documents should be given to the IAEA, which is responsible for implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action immediately," Lavrov said.

These remarks come as the US President Donald Trump faces a May 12 deadline to decide whether to pull the United States out of the 2015 agreement, which offered Tehran relief from sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

Meanwhile, according to the Iranian president's chief of staff, Iran has made the necessary preparations for a US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action well in advance of the US president’s upcoming decision.

“Plans have been made in such a way that if the US exits the JCPOA, the country (Iran) would not be much affected by the consequences of that measure,” Mahmoud Vaezi underlined.