Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi. Photo: Xinhua

 Iran said Monday that it had not closed the door to negotiations to resolve a dispute over its nuclear agreement with world powers that has escalated since 2018 when the US withdrew from the deal. 

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said any further move by Iran to scale back its commitments to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) would depend on the actions of other parties, Reuters reported.

"Tehran still remains in the deal... The European powers' claims about Iran violating the deal are unfounded," Mousavi told a weekly news conference in Tehran. 

The "door to negotiations" had not been closed, Mousavi said. 

"Whether Iran will further decrease its nuclear commitments will depend on other parties and whether Iran's interests are secured under the deal," he said. 

Geng Shuang, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told a regular media briefing on Monday that the Iran nuclear deal was an important achievement of multilateral diplomacy approved by the UN Security Council. 

It was important support for the nuclear nonproliferation treaty and contributed to peace and stability in the Middle East, Geng noted. 

The JCPOA was an important part of the international ­order and should be maintained and implemented, Geng said, in response to a question about how China evaluates the necessity of holding a meeting on the agreement as proposed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday. 

Lavrov suggested at a news conference Friday a meeting be held with the nuclear deal's remaining participants in order to understand the future fate of the agreement, UrduPoint News reported. 

The remaining parties include China, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Iran. 

"We urge all parties to exercise restraint and resolve differences through dialogue and consultation within the framework of the committee of the JCPOA and take effective measures to restore the balance of rights and obligations," Geng said. 

China and Russia are firm supporters of the Iran nuclear agreement and have maintained close communication on the issue, Geng said. 

China supports any initiative that will help ease the situation and maintain the agreement, he noted.