MOSCOW. Aug 28 (Interfax) - Any initiatives toward preserving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear program should be acceptable to all of its signatories, and Russia stands ready to facilitate such initiatives, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
"As concerns steps toward this - I won't elaborate on them, for this is still a matter of negotiations and confidential consultations - such steps will be successful if they are acceptable to all participants in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, including the Islamic Republic of Iran," Lavrov said at a press conference on Wednesday.
"We will be willing to facilitate the achievement of such a result," he said.
During an extraordinary French-Russian summit in Fort de Bregancon a week ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin supported French President Emmanuel Macron's proposal that the JCPOA and the agreements it stipulates should be revived, Lavrov said, commenting on the French leadership's proposals on easing the sanctions on Iran on the condition that it resumes full compliance with the deal.
Bloomberg reported earlier that Macron had proposed a plan to U.S. President Donald Trump under which Iran would be allowed to sell oil for a limited period of time on the condition that it resumes compliance with the JCPOA terms and revisits negotiations on missiles and regional issues once the JCPOA expires in 2025. The agency said Trump was unlikely to support Macron's plan.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif visited Biarritz, France, which hosted the G7 summit last weekend. Zarif met with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian and President Macron.
Zarif himself described the outcomes of this visit as a manifestation of Tehran's active diplomacy.