Moscow’s message to Trump on Iran deal: ‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it’

Moscow’s message to Trump on Iran deal: ‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it’
Mon Oct 16, 2017 09:31:27

Russia's foreign ministry on Sunday called on President Trump not to meddle with something that's already working, after Trump announced last week his decision to decertify the Iran nuclear deal.

(thehill) -- "There is an American saying our overseas colleagues often use in such situations: ‘If it’s not broke, don’t fix it,’" Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russian news agency TASS on Sunday. 

"It seems to be a wrong way to follow as the existing documents are working quite efficiently," he said.

Ryabkov pointed to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s statement earlier in the day about possibly amending the agreement or coming up with a new deal with Tehran regarding its nuclear development program.

The Russian diplomat suggested it's a pattern under the Trump administration to call for improvements and amendments of an agreement that is already successful. 

"We note recurring signals from Washington in favor of the so-called improvements of the existing agreement and possible supplements to it," he said, according to the news outlet. "What is to be improved in this context is the implementation of the existing agreements by the U.S. side."

"Iran is fully implementing its liabilities, which cannot be said about the United States," Ryabkov added.

Moscow, he says, plans to stress to Iran "the importance of keeping the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)" deal going. 

His remarks come after the president on Friday announced that he wouldn't certify that Iran was complying with the requirements set forward by the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal. Trump said that the Iran nuclear deal is no longer serving U.S. national security interests and accused the state of committing "multiple violations of the agreement." 

“I am announcing today that we cannot and will not make this certification,” Trump said during a speech at the White House on Friday, while stopping short of withdrawing from the Obama-era pact that he has repeatedly slammed.

Trump's announcement ultimately leaves the fate of the deal in the hands of Congress, which now has 60 days to decide whether Iran will be slapped with economic sanctions that were lifted under JCPOA. 

(Photo: Getty)

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