OREANDA-NEWS. Beijing expects all participants in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action for the Iranian Nuclear Program (JCPOA) to be serious about fulfilling their obligations. This was stated in an interview with the Russian media by the new Chinese Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Zhang Hanhui.

“The JCPOA is important and cannot be replaced,” the diplomat said. “China appreciates Iran’s strict compliance with all requirements of the plan, which has been repeatedly confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and hopes that all JCPOA members will also be serious and responsible relate to fulfilling your obligations".

Zhang Hanhui expressed the hope that the international community will make every effort to protect Tehran’s economic benefits stipulated by the agreement and create favorable conditions for further fulfillment of obligations under the JCPOA. At the same time, he said, the US’s return to the agreement would be the “only real and effective way” to solve the Iranian nuclear problem. "China will continue to monitor the development of the situation with Russia and together make active efforts within the UN framework to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue and ease tension", the ambassador concluded.

On May 8, 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump announced Washington’s withdrawal from the JCPOA, a deal that was concluded in 2015 and limited Tehran’s nuclear development in exchange for the lifting of UN Security Council sanctions and unilateral US and EU restrictive measures. Washington resumed previous sanctions against Tehran, and also introduced a number of new restrictions.

Trump has repeatedly stated that he is ready for a dialogue with Tehran. He said that he was interested in replacing the existing JCPOA with another treaty, which would cover not only Iran’s nuclear program, but also a wide range of issues, including Tehran’s missile program and its regional policy.