Mr Minister, dear friend, colleagues,

We are pleased to welcome you to Moscow. We appreciate the fact that, despite the circumstances, we continue to talk not only online, but in person as well.

We regard our meeting today as a very important milestone in the common efforts that the remaining participants in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) are now undertaking in order to preserve this critical achievement of multilateral diplomacy.

We consider destructive in every sense the policy adopted by our US colleagues which seeks to completely destroy this important document and other agreements in the sphere of arms control and non-proliferation in general. Nevertheless, we are confident that the chances for the JCPOA to return to a sustainable course are still there. At least we, like our Iranian friends, are doing our best to make this happen. We see that the People's Republic of China has adopted the same position, and the remaining JCPOA members from Europe continue to show interest in this as well.

Today, we will focus on the additional steps, primarily, in the legal sphere, that need to be taken based on UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which is at one with the JCPOA and should be implemented as such.

Today is also a good opportunity to exchange views on further steps to promote the Syrian settlement as a follow-up to the videoconference between the presidents of Russia, Iran and Turkey as leaders of the Astana process guarantor countries.

On July 16, our presidents - President of Iran Hassan Rouhani and President of Russia Vladimir Putin - talked by telephone and discussed in detail the state of bilateral relations, primarily in the economic and cultural areas. Today is a good opportunity to outline additional steps to advance these areas.

Welcome again. We are very pleased to have you here.