Russia has reiterated the need for an unconditional return of the United States to the Iran nuclear deal 2015 known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Iran Press/Europe: "We believe that the return of the United States to the JCPOA should not be accompanied by additional preconditions or extra demands," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a weekly news conference on Thursday.

"We proceed from the understanding that the United States’ return to the fold of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action for the Iranian nuclear program must not be linked with any extra preconditions or requirements," she said. "We believe that progress in this respect will be achieved. We have taken note of the Iranian leadership’s repeated confirmations it is prepared to act precisely this way."

Zakharova recalled that the participants in the foreign minister-level meeting of the JCPOA signatories confirmed precisely this kind of attitude to the agreement.

"Attempts to reconfigure the nuclear deal ended in failure," Zakharova said. "It is alive and will continue to be implemented systematically, just as the UN Security Council’s Resolution 2231 (on the nuclear deal) the way it was unanimously approved on July 20, 2015. All countries, including the United States, are obliged to comply with this resolution without any reservations."

She stressed that the United States, whose sanctions and destructive actions prompted Tehran to temporarily step down from its nuclear commitments, should help bring Tehran back into the agreement.

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