"I think this is not the final say of #Iran. The refusal to participate in informal consultations was caused by clumsy positions of some states, according to the Iranian MFA. A lot depends on how the Iranian nuclear dossier is handled at the #IAEA BoG [Board of Governors] session which starts today", Ulyanov wrote on Twitter.
The diplomat also called on the participants in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and other IAEA governors to refrain from taking "clumsy and irresponsible steps", which can and will undermine the prospects for the full restoration of the nuclear deal in near future through businesslike talks.
"The way out of the deadlock is to reaffirm that all #JCPOA participants are in one boat, incl. the US who declared its readiness to come back. #US and #Iran need to synchronise their return to full compliance with JCPOA w/o engaging in fruitless discussions who must go first", Ulyanov added.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing two senior Western diplomats, that Iran rejected the offer of the US and the European Union to have direct nuclear talks with Washington in the coming weeks, seeking guarantees that the later will remove sanctions after the meeting. In response, the US expressed disappointment with Tehran's decision, adding that it will discuss further steps with P5+1 partners.
In 2015, Iran, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union signed the nuclear deal, stipulating the removal of international sanctions from Tehran in exchange for it scaling down its nuclear programme. However, in 2018, Washington unilaterally withdrew from the deal and reimposed sanctions on Iran, to which Tehran responded by gradually abandoning its own commitments.
In December, Iran passed a law to increase its uranium enrichment and stop IAEA inspections of its nuclear sites in a bid to achieve the removal of US economic sanctions. In early January, Iran's atomic energy organisation announced that the country had succeeded in enriching uranium at 20 percent at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.
Iran had also threatened to suspend all IAEA inspections of the country's nuclear facilities by February 23 if the US sanctions were not lifted by that time. However, after talks with the international watchdog, Tehran agreed to prolong the inspections but in a limited capacity.
