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Kremlin Underlines Importance of Iran’s Reaction to US Plan on Nuclear Deal

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Iran nuclear deal continues to be implemented, what important is how Tehran will react to Washington’s demands, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
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“What important is how Tehran assesses these 12 points. You know that the Kremlin, Tehran and involved European countries have reaffirmed their commitment to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and reiterated their intention to continue to adhere to these commitments," Peskov told reporters, when asked to comment on the issue.

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On Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave a keynote speech on the US policy on Iran, voicing 12 demands to Tehran following Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear agreement.

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Russia, Germany and France have a joint understanding of the need to work jointly to minimize the negative consequences of the US withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal, Peskov said.

"There is an understanding of the necessity of joint work in order to minimize the consequences which Washington’s exit from the nuclear deal with Iran caused," Peskov told reporters.

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna, has also expressed his opinion concerning the nuclear deal issue and Korean Peninsula settlement.

"Washington has once again shown its total lack of ability to negotiate. This will inevitably affect further dialogue on the denuclearization of North Korea," Ulyanov told a press conference in a form of Moscow-Vienna video link, organized by the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency.

On May 8, US President Donald Trump announced his decision to withdraw from the JCPOA, which requires Tehran to maintain a peaceful nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Trump also announced that he would re-impose US sanctions on the country. The US Treasury has already imposed restrictions on some Iranian individuals and entities. The decision was not supported by other parties to the JCPOA.

North Korea Denuclearization

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The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has no powers to control possible nuclear disarmament of North Korea, Ulyanov stated.

“This [the use of the IAEA fora] is impossible, because the IAEA statute does not provide for the control of nuclear disarmament. The IAEA was created for other purposes – non-proliferation purposes, and most importantly for the development of the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” Ulyanov told a press conference in a form of Moscow-Vienna video link, organized by the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency.

The diplomat noted that if the political or legal agreement on the settlement of the situation on the Korean peninsula was reached, the IAEA "cannot and should not be involved" in the disarmament process.

A Congress of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of North Korea had ruled that Pyongyang should halt all nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missiles launches and close its nuclear testing site in the country's north.

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