Russia Urges JCPOA Parties to Show 'Responsibility'

“The question now arises of what needs to be done to increase the chances of keeping the JCPOA afloat and to ensure further work within the framework set in 2015," Ryabkov told the TASS news agency on Tuesday reacting to reports that Tehran plans to install three more cascades, or clusters, of advanced IR-2m centrifuges in the enrichment plant in the central city of Natanz.

He added, “All parties are required to show restraint and responsibility. We will keep in touch with our colleagues in Europe via virtual or face-to-face meetings in the coming day to help maintain the agreement.” 

“Iran's gradual withdrawal from its commitments under the JCPOA is not new. Of course, this step does not add any positive to the already complicated and tense atmosphere around the Iranian nuclear program,” Ryabkov said.

Iran has so far rowed back on its nuclear commitments in compliance with Articles 26 and 36 of the JCPOA after the US withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 and reinstated the anti-Iran sanctions and Europe failed to honor its obligations.

The Islamic Republic has voiced its readiness to reverse the suspension of its commitments under the multilateral nuclear deal if other parties return to the accord and abide by their own obligations.

Recently, a double-urgency draft bill was recently approved by the Iranian Parliament. The measure has mandated the government to limit the UN nuclear watchdog’s regulatory access and tasked it with empowering the country’s nuclear program further in retaliation for the Western non-commitment to the nuclear accord.