MOSCOW. April 5 (Interfax) - Moscow regrets the increasing leaks of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports to media and believes that Iran's move to engage the fourth cascade of new-generation centrifuges should be viewed as another step toward a renouncement of voluntarily assumed commitments, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Monday.
"Firstly, it is sad that the confidential documents of the IAEA are being leaked to media, especially as this happens systematically and counter to our constant requests to the secretariat about the need to adhere to the confidentiality regime. Secondly, these actions clearly cannot be assessed otherwise as Iran moving further away from the obligations it voluntarily assumed under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA]," Ryabkov told reporters in Moscow, commenting on media reports citing the IAEA report about Iran's decision to engage the fourth cascade of new generation centrifuges.
"But what is more significant is the fact that in recent days and weeks, the Iranian side has clearly expressed the will to and readiness to work on parameters of the return to the full observance of the JCPOA, which suggests both the cancellation by the U.S. of all the existing relevant sanctions and Tehran's full return to the originally set parameters of the JCPOA. This is important, and we have contributed to this, too," Ryabkov said.
"The past 7-10 days saw a great deal of contacts in the format of teleconferences at the level of political directors, and at some other levels. Tomorrow, Vienna will host a meeting of the joint commission within the JCPOA. We're expecting expert consultations, basically, indirect talks, to begin after that," he said.
"We hope that these efforts will help lift the problems relating to the scope of obligations being fulfilled by Iran and will certainly help ease the burden of sanctions, which the country has been subjected to for a long time but particularly badly after the U.S. withdrew from JCPOA unilaterally under the Trump administration," Ryabkov said.