Russia’s Demand for a Written Guarantee to Be Exempted from Iran Related Sanctions

On 5 March 2022, Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs declared that sanctions against his country in response to the Ukraine invasion has created an obstacle in the Iran nuclear deal and warned that Russia's national interests must be taken into account in this case. In response, the US State Department stated that the new sanctions against Russia are not related to the JCPOA. Lavrov noted that Moscow is looking for a “very clear answer” that the sanctions would have no effect on Russia's trade-economic relations and investment in Iran, as stated in the JCPOA. The Russian Foreign Minister stressed that according to the JCPOA, Russia and China may assist Iran in its civilian nuclear program and in the framework of non-proliferation laws, and that sanctions (against Russia) will not interfere with these projects.

Lavrov emphasized that Russia needs to be reassured that the current process initiated by the United States does not interfere with their rights to conduct free economic trade and investment and technical-military cooperation with the Islamic Republic [Iran]”. The statements of the Russian Foreign Minister were made at a time when the negotiations of reviving JCPOA have reached the so-called “final” stages.

According to Iranian media, Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, has told the reporters that Tehran had agreed to submit the documents required by the International Atomic Energy Agency “by the end of June at the latest” in order to resolve disputes with the IAEA. Mr. Eslami expressed the hope that the process of Iran's cooperation with the IAEA would be “neutral and far from politics”.