Russia Opens Door to Reworked Iran Deal Ahead of Trump Decision

(Bloomberg) -- Russia is willing to consider a French proposal to negotiate an additional agreement on Iran’s nuclear program to address U.S. President Donald Trump’s concerns over the current international accord, a top diplomat said.

France’s idea “deserves consideration and we can’t say we are rejecting it out of hand,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with RBC newspaper published Tuesday. He later confirmed his comments by text message.

Curbs on Iran’s nuclear program after 2025, the Islamic Republic’s missile program and regional policy can all be discussed in the new negotiations, Ryabkov said. Russia wants to see “concrete” proposals on a potential solution and format for the talks, he said.

Trump has said he’ll announce at 2 p.m. on Tuesday in Washington whether he’ll exit the 2015 accord between Iran and the U.S., Russia, France, Germany, the U.K. and China that limited the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program in return for lifting international sanctions. He contends that the agreement doesn’t do enough to address the threat from Iran’s ballistic missile program and its involvement in regional conflicts.

Germany, France and the U.K. have been trying against the odds to persuade Trump to stay in the deal to give time to negotiate side accords.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Ryabkov will visit Tehran for talks with officials on the nuclear accord on Thursday, the RIA Novosti news service reported.

To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Meyer in Moscow at hmeyer4@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gregory L. White at gwhite64@bloomberg.net, Tony Halpin, Kevin Costelloe

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