Ex-diplomat: Russia might step up efforts to obstruct JCPOA revival

In an interview with Jamaran news website on Sunday, Iran’s former ambassador to Germany Ali Majedi said, “Russia has started a war (in Ukraine) and, due to our sheer mistake, it has managed to get us involved in it.”

Majedi, who is a former member of Iran’s negotiation team, said the developments come amid some limited agreements between Iran and the United States in recent months, including releasing five Americans from Iranian prisons in exchange for freedom of several jailed Iranians and access to about $6 billion in Iranian oil revenue.

The former Iranian diplomat said, although the prisoner exchange deal was a ‘minor’ achievement, both sides can help resuscitate the JCPOA by keeping the negotiations on the right track and called on them to engage in direct talks.

Russia might create problems for forging a deal on the JCPOA revitalization because it has conflict of interests with Iran, the diplomat noted.

Multilateral diplomatic efforts to salvage the Iran nuclear deal and remove anti-Iran sanctions have so far failed.

Majedi said the developments that unraveled since both parties left the negotiating table months ago, including the Russian war on Ukraine, complicate the revival of the nuclear agreement.