Russia, Iran in sync on preserving nuclear deal
Russia's UN ambassador says the United States has "an irrational allergy" to Iran and should stop trying to constrain Tehran's influence in the Middle East by undermining the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The European Council on Foreign Relations once called Russia and Iran the "power couple" of the Middle East. That was two years ago, and it appears they're still making the relationship work.
On Jan. 10, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, as part of the latter’s visits to Russia and the European Union to discuss conditions of the Iran nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA). These meetings took place right before US President Donald Trump’s deadline Jan. 12 to decide if the United States is going to uphold the 2015 deal. According to a press release from the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow and Tehran reaffirmed their adherence to the JCPOA and stated that “attempts to undermine its consistent implementation by Washington will have a negative impact for the regional security and stability, as well as the value of multilateral diplomacy as applicable to the international nonproliferation regime.”
