Moscow wants ‘equal rights’ in Iran nuclear deal

Tehran: A revived Iranian nuclear deal must secure "equal rights" for everyone involved, Russia said on Monday, after Iran asked for details of Moscow’s demands for US guarantees on restoring the accord.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that, before backing the Iran nuclear deal, Moscow wants written assurances from Washington that Western sanctions imposed on it over the Ukraine war will not affect its economic and military cooperation with Tehran.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday dismissed these demands as "irrelevant". Sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine "have nothing to do with the Iran nuclear deal", he said on CBS talk show "Face the Nation".

Tehran made clear Monday it was seeking clarifications, with Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh saying "details" were needed through diplomatic channels. "Iran’s peaceful nuclear cooperation should not be affected or restricted by any sanctions, including Iran’s peaceful nuclear cooperation with Russia" and other countries, Khatibzadeh told reporters. Hours later the Russian embassy in Tehran tweeted that Lavrov and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian had spoken by telephone.

During the call, "it was emphasized that the resuscitation of the JCPOA should ensure that all its participants have equal rights regarding the unhindered development of cooperation in all areas", it said using the acronym of the 2015 nuclear deal.

Moscow is a direct party -- along with Britain, China, France and Germany -- to talks in Vienna aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal. Washington is participating indirectly. The agreement known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme to guarantee that Tehran could not develop a nuclear weapon -- something it has always denied wanting to do.

But the US unilateral withdrawal from the accord in 2018 under then-president Donald Trump and the reimposition of biting economic sanctions prompted Iran to begin rolling back on its own commitments.

The United States and other Western nations have imposed unprecedented sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Parties to negotiations to revive the 2015 deal have signalled progress in the talks during the past several weeks.