Tehran’s decision to row back on some of its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal is a diplomatic demarche, which was directly caused by Washington’s decision to withdraw from the key agreement, a senior Russian lawmaker said.

On Wednesday, Iran announced that it will suspend some of its commitments under the international deal, which lifted sanctions on the Islamic Republic in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear industry. Russia, one of the signatories of the deal, sees the move as regrettable but understandable, according to Konstantin Kosachev, chair of the Russian Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.

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He blamed the US for pulling out of its part of the bargain, which happened exactly a year ago, and ratcheting up pressure against Iran ever since.

“There is no reason to welcome Iran’s decision, since we all want to keep the Iranian nuclear deal alive, but it’s very easy to understand. Hopefully, this will be limited to diplomacy and not an actual withdrawal by Iran,” Kosachev wrote in a Facebook post.

Whether the European allies of the US, who are the primary recipients of the demarche, are interested in this, only time will tell. Europe has a chance to demonstrate how sovereign its foreign policy is and how big its influence in the world.

Iran said it will give other parties to the deal 60 days to deliver on their promise to salvage the agreement by offering Iran protection from re-imposed American sanctions, particularly in the oil export and banking sectors. The demand was specifically addressed to the European signatories, who, according to Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, failed to deliver on promises to compensate for the damage done to Iran’s economy by the US.

Vladimi Dzhabarov, Kosachev’s deputy on the committee, said he didn’t see how the Europeans could change US policies towards Iran, making it uphold its part of the bargain. “But at least there is an issue to talk about,” he added.

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