Iran defends decision to scale back nuclear deal commitments - report

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told his Russian counterpart on Wednesday that Tehran's decision to reduce some voluntary commitments within its nuclear deal with world powers was legal, the RIA news agency reported.

Zarif, in Moscow for talks, told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Iran's actions did not violate the original terms of the nuclear agreement and that Tehran now had 60 days to take the necessary diplomatic steps. Iran announced earlier on Wednesday it was scaling back curbs to its nuclear programme under a 2015 deal with world powers, and threatened to do more -- including enriching uranium to a higher level -- if countries did not shield it from U.S. sanctions.