TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Monday that Russia’s stance on the fate of the 2015 nuclear deal is “very promising”, IRNA reported.

Since Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear deal last week, Iran has threatened if the other members of the agreement, especially Europeans, do not give “guarantees” to Tehran about the benefits of the agreement it will remove cap on its nuclear activities. 

“Russia’s stance is very promising for us. I hope that today I will be able to hold consultations with you on the ways of cooperation in the 4+1 format,” he said during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.

The chief diplomat said that Iran decided to give diplomacy a chance after the U.S. withdrawal from the deal.

Zarif first visited China and then Russia as two parties of the international nuclear agreement. 

“We should see how the Iranians’ interests can be fulfilled in this situation,” he noted.

Lavrov said that it is necessary to prevent any new threats to the nuclear non-proliferation regime.

“We have planned contacts with all parties to this deal, except for the United States which announced the withdrawal from the agreement, in the coming days,” Sputnik quoted him as saying.

In a declaration on May 9, Trump officially walked out of the nuclear pact and said he will reinstate economic sanctions on Iran.

The nuclear agreement, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was signed in July 2015 between Iran, the European Union, Germany and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council including the United States. The deal went into force in January 2016. Under the multinational deal, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program for termination of economic and financial sanctions.  

Zarif left Moscow for Brussels, Belgium, on Monday for talks with his German, French and British counterparts on the fate of the nuclear deal. European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini is also be present at the meeting.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met with Helga Schmid, the European Union's deputy political director, in Brussels on Monday.

NA/PA