Press TV - Russia and the European Union rallybehind a 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran after reports that US President Donald Trump is set todecertify the international accord soon.
The European Commission said onFriday that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the agreement is called, is working and all sides should stickto their commitments.
The remarks bya Commissionspokeswoman came after a senior US administration official said on Thursday Trump would announce soonthat hewoulddecertify the landmark agreement.
"We are following very closely all the developments on thedeal... reminding that it is a non-proliferation deal, which hasbeen endorsed by the UN Security Council, that it's working,delivering as it has been verified eight times by theinternational agency for atomic energy," the spokeswoman told a news conference in Brussels.
"It is a durable, long-term solution to the Iranian nuclearissue which gives all sides the necessary assurances and weexpect all sides to stick to their commitments under the deal,"she added.
Trumpfaces an Oct. 15 deadline for certifying that Iran is complyingwith the accord's terms. The US president has twice endorsed Tehran's compliance but on Thursday he claimed that Iran had not "lived up to the spirit of the agreement."
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is fresh from verifying Iran's compliance as recently as last month, while other parties to the agreement are alsoon board,except the US leader.
Speaking to reporters on a visit to Kazakhstan on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he hoped Trump wouldmake a "balanced" decision on the agreement.
"It is very important to preserve it in its current form andof course the participation of the United States will be a verysignificant factor in this regard," Lavrov said.
The agreement was concluded between the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 group of countries the US, the UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany. It terminated nuclear-related sanctions against Iran in return for the application of certain limits by Iran to its nuclear program.
The CNN reported on Tuesday that US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had been working on a plan to keep the United States in the agreement.
It cited several US officials and Western diplomats as saying that the top diplomat was working with congressional lawmakers to amend the US legislation that requires the president to report on Iranian compliance.
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis also said recently that Trumps administration had to consider remaining a party to the Iran deal.
