Madame Chairperson,

We would like to once again express our serious concern over the fact that confidential IAEA reports on Iran become public knowledge simultaneously with their publication on the confidential website of the Board. Such leaks are impermissible and are seriously hampering the functioning of the Board of Governors. Practical measures to prevent such leaks should have long been devised. Therefore, we call on the Secretariat to initiate this process.

Russia has invariably supported the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) as a unique achievement of multilateral diplomacy that allows for addressing a package of topics in the field of non-proliferation as well as trade and economic cooperation with Iran in the interests of the international community. The blame for Tehran lifting some of the limitations agreed on in the JCPOA rests squarely with the United States, which has withdrawn from the deal and is using all the resources available to it to destroy the deal. However, the JCPOA has not collapsed and Tehran has mustered up the courage to continue to comply with its requirements, which is evidence of a unique nature of the JCPOA. The international community and first of all the remaining parties to the JCPOA must rally in its defence and find such forms of cooperation with Iran that would allow them to confront Washington’s destructive course with a common resolve to protect the constructive foundations of international relations.

We firmly denounce the recent decisions made by the US to cancel the exemptions regarding peaceful nuclear cooperation projects with Iran allowed in the JCPOA and UN Security Council Resolution 2231. This is not only one more of the numerous violations of the resolution by Washington, which took an active part in its preparation; it is also a mean and undignified gesture on the part of a state that claims to hold leading positions in peaceful international cooperation in the nuclear field. While trying to ensure that maximum pressure is placed on Iran, the United States is undermining the principle set out in Article IV of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which allows nations to conduct peaceful nuclear energy projects. By doing this, the United States has challenged the UN Security Council and the Non-Proliferation Treaty. It is easier to pull something down rather than to build it. Washington should become aware of the power of the destructive blow it is delivering to the fundamental principles of international relations. We hope that all reasonable members of the international community will actively resist this.

Thank you, Madame Chairperson.