TEHRAN – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said he was pessimistic about the resuscitation of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal at the moment. 

Lavrov considered it unrealistic to wait for a new agreement on reviving the nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a year before the presidential elections in the United States.

“It seems to me that it is not realistic to wait for this (the resumption of the JCPOA) now, because in a year there will be elections in the United States, and a new administration will come,” he said, according to RT Arabic. 

He made the remarks on the sidelines of a Russia-ASEAN meeting in Jakarta. 

“Who knows what kind of administration it will be, Democrat or Republican? But there are no guarantees that this new administration will not repeat the trick of pulling out of the agreement reached,” Lavrov continued. 

The Russian foreign minister pointed out that there are unofficial and unannounced contacts between Washington and Tehran on a number of bilateral files, but they have nothing to do with the nuclear agreement. He added that Russia welcomes such contacts aimed at easing tensions between Iran and the U.S.

Talks over reviving the JCPOA kicked off in April 2021 but failed to result in a deal over the JCPOA. Several rounds of talks were held with no concrete results. And in recent months, the talks have been held in abeyance, with the U.S. envoy for Iran, Rob Malley, facing domestic criticisms over mishandling the Iran talks. Malley’s security clearances have also been suspended pending an investigation by the FBI. 

Meanwhile, there are press reports that Iran and the U.S. have reached unwritten understandings aimed at de-escalating tensions and resolving some minor issues.