TEHRAN- The West’s commitment to talks to resurrect the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement has come into question, according to Russian envoy to international organizations in Vienna.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Mikhail Ulyanov signaled reaction to the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s emphasis on Beijing’s commitment to the negotiations.

Employing an acronym for the nuclear deal or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), he added that “no doubt that China is committed to the JCPOA.”

“The question is to what extent the U.S. and E3 are committed to revitalization of the nuclear deal and maintaining nuclear non-proliferation. This is a big question mark as of today,” Ulyanov noted. 

Additionally, he said that the U.S. and E3 —France, Britain, and Germany — might be pursuing a “clandestine goal” in this respect.

Iran, Russia, and China have consistently laid the responsibility for the deadlock in negotiations on Western nations.

Iran demonstrated the peaceful nature of its nuclear program to the world by signing the JCPOA with six nations in 2015: the U.S., Germany, France, United Kingdom, Russia, and China. 

However, the deal’s survival was uncertain following Washington’s unilateral departure in May 2018 and its consequent re-imposition of sanctions against Tehran.

In April 2021, talks between the deal’s parties began in Vienna with the goal of bringing the U.S. back on track to spell the end to Washington’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran.

Tehran believes that the U.S. must provide guarantees that it won’t withdraw from or break the agreement again if it is revived. 

Tehran’s scrupulous adherence to the nuclear deal has been confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) multiple times.

The talks, nevertheless, have been stalled since August 2022 due to Washington’s refusal to waive all the sanctions imposed on Tehran by the prior administration and provide the essential guarantees.