TEHRAN - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Tuesday that Moscow will not accept any change to the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

“Russia’s policy is still supporting and preserving the JCPOA and will not accept any change [to the deal],” he said during a meeting with Iranian Ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanaei.

Ryabkov also said that Europe is expected to remain committed to its obligations under the deal.

He called on the European countries to make efforts in line with preserving the JCPOA and not give in to the U.S. pressure.

In a statement on January 12, U.S. President Donald Trump gave Europeans only 120 days to agree to an overhaul of the nuclear agreement and said if the text of the nuclear deal is not revised he would unilaterally withdraw the U.S. from it.

The deadline falls on May 12.

Iran, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the U.S., UK, France, Russia, and China - Germany and the European Union struck the nuclear deal in July 14, 2015. The deal took effect in January 2016.

According to the agreement, Iran agreed to put limits on its nuclear activities in exchange for termination of economic and financial sanctions.

The UN nuclear watchdog, which has been tasked to monitor Iran’s compliance to the agreement, has issued ten reports each time confirming Tehran’s full adherence to the limits.

Behrooz Kamalvandi, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said on April 10 that withdrawal from the nuclear deal will cause problems for the U.S. at the international level.

The JCPOA is backed by the UN Security Council resolution 2231 and the U.S. will be “politically isolated” if it pulls out of the international agreement.

On Monday, the European Union reiterated its strong commitment to the full implementation of the nuclear agreement, saying preserving the accord is vital for the EU.

“The Europeans have always made it clear, the European Union has always made it clear that for us, keeping the agreement in place is vital. It is a strategic interest for the European Union and we will stick to it,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told reporters on Monday ahead of the bloc’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg.

NA/PA