(Incorporates IRAN-NUCLEAR/RUSSIA-USA, IRAN-NUCLEAR/RUSSIA-AMIRABDOLLAHIAN, IRAN-NUCLEAR/USA series)
* Lavrov comments hint Russia would let nuclear deal proceed
* Moscow may now accept Ukraine sanctions should not derail it -US
* Oil prices fall on Lavrov remarks, COVID spread in China
By Parisa Hafezi and Humeyra Pamuk
DUBAI/WASHINGTON, March 15 (Reuters) – Russia said on Tuesday it has received written guarantees it can carry out its work as a party to the Iran nuclear deal, suggesting that Moscow would allow a revival of the tattered 2015 pact to go forward.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s comments appeared to signal Moscow may have backed off its previous view that Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine were an impediment to salvaging the nuclear deal.
Lavrov on March 5 unexpectedly demanded sweeping guarantees that Russian trade with Iran would not be affected by the Ukraine-related sanctions – a demand Western powers have said was unacceptable and Washington has insisted it will not accept.
Under the deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program to make it harder to develop a nuclear bomb – an ambition it denies – in return for relief from global economic sanctions.
“We have received written guarantees – they are included in the very text of the agreement on reviving the JCPOA, and in these texts there is a reliable defence of all the projects provided for by the JCPOA and those activities – including the linking up of our companies and specialists,” Lavrov said.
Speaking at a news conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in Moscow, Lavrov also denied that Russia was an obstacle to reviving the 2015 agreement.
“I have heard how the Americans have every day tried to accuse us of delaying the agreement – that is a lie. The agreement is not finally approved in several capitals, and the Russian capital – Moscow – is not one of them.”
Oil prices fell sharply, pulled down by Lavrov’s comments that Moscow was in favour of the nuclear deal resuming as soon as possible, and by doubts about Chinese demand following surging COVID-19 cases in China.
However, several Western officials said they were not sure what Lavrov meant.
Western officials say there is common interest in avoiding a nuclear nonproliferation crisis, and they are trying to ascertain whether what Russia is demanding regards only its nuclear commitments to the Iran deal. That would be manageable, but anything beyond that would be problematic, they say.
Speaking in Washington, a U.S. official also responded cautiously to Lavrov’s comments, saying they might mean Moscow had come around to the U.S. view that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should not torpedo the Iran nuclear deal.
“We would of course not sanction Russian participation in nuclear projects that are part of resuming full implementation of the JCPOA,” the senior U.S. State Department official said on condition of anonymity.
“We cannot provide assurances beyond that to Russia,” he added. “Perhaps it is now clear to Moscow that, as we have said publicly, the new Russia-related sanctions are unrelated to the JCPOA and should not have any impact on its implementation.”
Eleven months of fitful talks to revive the deal – which then-U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018, prompting Tehran to start violating its nuclear limits about a year later – paused in Vienna last week after Russia demanded assurances.
Iran said the United States lacked the “political will” to resolve several outstanding issues in the nuclear negotiations in Vienna. The Islamic Republic has insisted Washington remove human rights and terrorism-related sanctions, including those imposed in 2019 on its elite Revolutionary Guards.
Amirabdollahian said the pause in the Vienna talks could help resolve several of the outstanding issues and suggested that Russia was no impediment.
“If we can reach an understanding with the United States on the few issues that are our red line and get to a final agreement, Russia will stand with us until the end of talks to reach a good, stable and strong nuclear deal,” he said. (Reporting by Parisa Hafezi in Dubai and by Humeyra Pamuk in Washington; Additional reporting by Guy Faulconbridge in London and by John Irish in Paris; Writing by Arshad Mohammed, editing by Mark Heinrich)
