Moscow, Jan 12 (IANS): Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the Iran nuclear deal, or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saying its further implementation was supported by the two countries.

"Russia and Germany resolutely stand for the continued implementation of the joint plan," Xinhua news agency quoted Putin as saying on Saturday after his meeting with Merkel.

"We certainly could not ignore the issue of preserving the JCPOA on Iran's nuclear programme, which is vitally important not only for the region but also for the whole world," he said.

Putin recalled that after the US withdrew from this fundamental agreement in May 2018, the Iranian side declared that they would suspended some of their voluntary commitments under the JCPOA.

"Let me underscore this: they only suspended their voluntary commitments while they stress their readiness to go back to full compliance with the nuclear deal," the president added.

The JCPOA was reached in 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 (permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -- the US, the UK, Russia, France, and China, plus Germany) and the European Union.

Tehran agreed to roll back parts of its nuclear weapons programme in exchange for decreased economic sanctions.

In reaction to the US withdrawal and also in response to Europe's sluggishness in facilitating Iran's banking transactions and its oil exports, Tehran has made stage-by-stage moves away from its nuclear commitments since last May.

But earlier this month, the Iranian government announced that it would abandon the nuclear deal in response to the US drone attack that killed Major General Qasem Soleimani on January 3 in Baghdad.