TEHRAN — Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Iran and Russia are two important, powerful players in the fight against international terrorism.

Putin made the remarks in a session to receive credentials from 23 ambassadors to Russia, including Iran’s new ambassador Kazem Jalali.

Jalali had already delivered copy of his credentials to Deputy Foreign Minister for East and South Asia Morgulov Igor Vladimirovich on December 25, 2019.

Putin said the Tehran-Moscow cooperation will continue, IRNA reported.

He said relations between Iran and Russia are growing and are based on mutual respect.

Relations between Tehran and Moscow are based on mutual respect and Moscow will continue its effort to save the Iran nuclear deal, said the Russian president.

Back in 2015, Iran and six world powers, including Russia, struck a nuclear agreement, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which put some limitations on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. 

The JCPOA was ditched by the U.S. under President Donald Trump’s order. Trump has also adopted a “maximum pressure” policy against the Islamic Republic which targets Iran’s oil exports and bans top Iranian officials and commanders.

In response to the U.S. withdrawal, on May 8, 2019, Iran announced that its “strategic patience” is over and started to gradually reduce its commitments to the JCPOA at bi-monthly intervals. At the time Iran announced if the European parties to the deal take concrete steps to shield Iran’s economy from the U.S. sanctions it will reverse its decision.

However, seeing no action by the Europeans, on January 5 Iran took the last and final step by removing all limits on its nuclear activities.

Iran’s moves are based on paragraph 36 of the JCPOA which “allows one side, under certain circumstances, to stop complying with the deal if the other side is out of compliance.”

Despite taking the last step, Iran has reminded the Europeans to fulfill their commitments in order to keep the deal alive.

MH/PA