Britain, France and Germany warned Saturday against moves to "exploit" the Iran nuclear negotiations, a tacit warning to Russia which is accused of delaying an agreement to gain leverage in its invasion of Ukraine, AFP reports.
"Nobody should seek to exploit JCPOA negotiations to obtain assurances that are separate to the JCPOA," said a statement from the spokespersons for the British, French and German foreign ministries -- the three European parties to the negotiations between Iran and world powers on a return to the 2015 nuclear deal.
"This risks the collapse of the deal, depriving the Iranian people of sanctions lifting and the international community of the assurance needed on Iran's nuclear program," they added.
The statement comes a day after the foreign policy chief of the European Union announced that a pause was needed in the negotiations in Vienna over Iran’s nuclear program, citing “external factors”.
No new timetable for resuming the talks has been announced.
Iran has gradually scaled back its compliance with the 2015 deal, in response to former US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement in May of 2018, but has held several rounds of indirect talks with the US on a return to the agreement.
There have been indications recently that a deal between Iran and world powers could be reached within days.
However, the talks appeared to hit a snag after Russia said that Western sanctions imposed over the conflict in Ukraine had become a stumbling block for the Iran nuclear deal.
In response, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken dismissed Russia’s demands as "irrelevant", saying the sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine "have nothing to do with the Iran nuclear deal.”