TEHRAN – In a meeting in Tehran on Monday, high-ranking Iranian and Russian officials discussed issues related to the 2015 nuclear deal and ways to keep the internationally-backed agreement alive.

The meeting was held between Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and his Russian counterpart Sergei Ryabkov.

During the meeting, the two sides agreed to continue bilateral consultations in the future.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova had announced in August that Moscow would continue to honor its commitments under the landmark 2015 nuclear deal reached between Iran and major world powers as long as other countries abide by their obligations.

“My country would deem any changes to the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as destructive that could destabilize the already-volatile Middle East region,” Zakharova said.

She underlined that Washington’s efforts to undermine the JCPOA and restoring full-scale pressure through sanctions is absolutely unconstructive.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that Washington would no longer remain part of the JCPOA and promised to reimpose the highest level of economic sanctions against Iran.

After Trump's declaration, the Iranian government issued a statement calling the U.S. withdrawal as "unlawful". The statement underlined Iran's prerequisites for continuing the deal with the remaining five parties. These conditions that were reiterated later by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei later mainly included Iran's guaranteed crude sales and transfer of its revenues back home.

President Hassan Rouhani has voiced his disappointment over a recent package of incentives proposed by the European Union countries to Tehran, and said that the Islamic Republic expected a much better, clearer and explicit stance by the EU.

SP/PA