Top diplomat says Russia to respond to West in kind over Iran nuclear talks if necessary

Ulyanov said in a tweet on Tuesday that the Western parties politicized the talks to the maximum possible extent, but their approach has failed to meet their interests.

“Western countries politicized multilateral discussions in Vienna to the maximum possible extent. But now they apparently started to understand that such policy doesn’t correspond to their own interests,” he wrote.

He made clear that Russia’s position will correspond to the West’s policy, adding, “If necessary, we will respond.”

Iran proved the peaceful nature of its nuclear program to the world by signing the JCPOA, commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, with six world powers. However, Washington’s exit in May 2018 and its subsequent re-imposition of sanctions against Tehran left the future of the deal in limbo.

Multilateral diplomatic efforts to revive the JCPOA have been stalled since last August, with Iran blaming the United States for failing to guarantee that it will not leave the deal again.

Former US President Donald Trump pulled out of the UN-endorsed agreement in May 2018 and imposed what he called “maximum pressure” sanctions against Iran.

Iran has repeatedly announced that the JCPOA revival is possible if the US and the European signatories to the agreement have the will to reach that aim, warning that the opportunity will not last forever.