Page 6 - bne IntelliNews Country Report: Iran Dec17

2.0 Politics
2.1 Iran nuclear deal
Iran, Russia display strategic unity
US House hits Iran with ballistic missile sanctions but stops short of addressing nuclear deal
Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed his strong support for the multilateral nuclear deal with Iran during his one-day trip to Tehran on November 1, where trilateral talks between Iran, Russia and Azerbaijan were held.
While making it clear that Russia has no sympathy for U S President Donald Trump's bellicose attack on Iran and the nuclear accord, he also praised the cooperation between Moscow and the Iranians in resolving the Syrian conflict.
However, the talks between the three nations that border the Caspian Sea were largely held to improve energy cooperation, transport and trade.
Putin met with both Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Azerbaijani President llham Aliyev who also journeyed to Tehran for the talks.
Apart from the US, the European Union as a whole and all the other signatories to the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – namely Russia , the UK, China, France, and Germany – are content with the agreement and accept that Iran is in compliance with it. Putin made it plain in the Iranian capital that any move by the US to try and force changes to the JCPOA, to ensure Washington's continued participation in it, would not be accepted. He affirmed to Khamenei that Moscow opposes "any unilateral change" to the accord, the supreme leader's office said in a statement.
The US House on October 26 voted through sanctions in response to Iran’s ballistic missile program. However, representatives did not address the matter of whether Iran is in compliance with the nuclear deal, which allows the Islamic Republic access to major export markets such as oil, gas and petrochemicals.
The 423-2 vote in the House also brought in sanctions as a penalty for Tehran's support of Hezbollah. The latest American unilateral non-nuclear sanctions do reduce some economic relief that Iran has secured from the nuclear deal—in return for an inspections regime that is meant to bar its way to developing a nuclear bomb—but analysts say the country is unlikely to abandon the multilateral agreement unless Washington undercuts the removal of the nuclear sanctions far more incisively.
US President Donald Trump has refused to certify Iranian compliance with the nuclear deal even though all other major powers and the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) insist that they are convinced that Iran is respecting the agreement.
Trump has requested that Congress debate and adjust the deal to his satisfaction. If they are unable to do so, he says, he will end US participation in the accord.
6 IRAN Country Report November 2017 www.intellinews.com