Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Tuesday that the United States’ attempt to trigger snapback mechanism and restore UN sanctions on Iran has no legal ground and it can end up losing a lot if it does not review its “unfounded position”.

“We are certain that if the international community and the UN Security Council members will continue to stick to principled positions on this issue, which is what we are working on, then the situation will emerge when the U.S. will be alone in the UN Security Council with this paradoxical point of view. At least, such a unique development seems rather likely. Therefore, the U.S. can end up losing a lot if it does not review its unfounded position and does not take obvious things into account,” he told reporters, according to TASS.

Ryabkov noted that the meeting of the Joint Commission of Iran and five international mediators (Russia, China, France, Germany and the United Kingdom) in Vienna rejected Washington’s initiative to reinstate sanctions against Tehran.

“We are witnessing an important process of consolidation of parties to the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program] against this American venture. We are certain that the results of today’s event will help our colleagues in New York continue their work in the right direction,” he said.

He also emphasized that all the meeting participants again backed preserving the deal. According to him, they took stock of the JCPOA’s current implementation and discussed steps to boost chances of saving it.

Ryabkov also said that the meeting in Vienna discussed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s initiative on organizing a summit on the Persian Gulf security. 

“The Russian delegation used the occasion to substantively deliver not only details of this proposal, but also to promote the colleagues’ understanding of the concept of collective security in the Persian Gulf area, which we put forward in an updated form last year,” he noted.

NA/PA