Russian Foreign Ministry: U.S. to blame for Iran's accumulation of uranium

Iran is unable to export enriched uranium and heavy water exactly because of U.S. sanctions that encumber implementation of certain provisions of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department for Nonproliferation and Arms Control Vladimir Ermakov said.

"As cynical as this sounds, Tehran is doing exactly what Washington was urging it to do through its recent 'nuclear' sanctions. The United States has made enriched uranium and heavy water export impossible. Iran will, therefore, stock it, and only Washington is to blame", Sputnik cited Ermakov as saying.

The diplomat noted that Iran's nuclear activities are currently in full compliance with the JCPOA, while, the U.S. actions aimed at undermining major international agreements that promote the strengthening of regional and global security are a real threat to the nuclear nonproliferation regime, but the global community did not properly rebuff the U.S. destructive policies.

"Russia and China prepared last year a working document in JCPOA support. However, Europeans and other U.S. allies were afraid to join our initiative. We all see the regrettable results of such an attitude," the director of the department noted.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. State Secretary Mike Pompeo will hold talks in Sochi later in the day. Yesterday, Lavrov said that he hoped to hear an explanation of how Washington planned to solve the crisis around the JCPOA.