"Russia: Current Middle East Crisis, West's Failure to Restore Iran Nuclear Deal Responsible"

Russia attributed the instability in the Middle East caused by the direct conflict between Israel and Iran to the West's failure to restore the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA - Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna, Austria, stated on Telegram on the 15th (local time), "The extremely dangerous events currently occurring in the Middle East are one of the consequences of the decisions by the United States and the European trio (the United Kingdom, France, and Germany) that blocked the JCPOA restoration negotiations."

Ulyanov criticized, "There was an opportunity to avoid this situation," adding, "The West paved the way for the current incidents to occur."

Anti-Israel protest in Iran
Photo by Yonhap News

In 2015, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, and China) along with Germany signed a nuclear agreement in which the West would lift economic sanctions in exchange for Iran freezing or reducing its nuclear program.

However, in 2018, then-U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal and reinstated sanctions against Iran. In response, Iran declared its withdrawal from the nuclear agreement, restricted inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and increased uranium enrichment levels.

Subsequently, U.S. President Joe Biden expressed his intention to restore the Iran nuclear deal, and indirect contacts between the West and Iran led to significant progress. However, negotiations were halted due to the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis in February 2022.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.