Iran has right to peaceful nuclear programme – Russia’s envoy

Iran has the right for peaceful nuclear program, it cannot be denied, Russia’s Permanent Representative to International Organisations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said on Tuesday.

On Monday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave a keynote speech on the U.S. policy on Iran, voicing 12 demands to Tehran following Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear agreement.

“The U. S. is unable to understand that Iran is a sovereign state that has certain responsibilities under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, but it also has the respective rights.

“One of the main rights … is the right to peaceful use of nuclear energy. Iran has such a right, and it is absolutely impossible to deny it,” Ulyanov told a news conference.

The diplomat noted that the implementation of the JCPOA was technically possible without the U.S. participation.

“Now the focus is on trying to continue the implementation of the JCPOA, but without the United States, which is technically possible.

“Time will tell whether it is possible in practice,” Ulyanov said.