Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday Moscow will not support attempts by Washington to modify the Iran nuclear deal, arguing such a move could also complicate diplomacy over North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme.
Lavrov spoke days after US President Donald Trump said he would waive nuclear sanctions against Iran for the last time to give Washington and its European allies a chance to fix the “terrible flaws” of the 2015 nuclear deal.
“We will not support what the United States is trying to do, changing the wording of the agreement, incorporating things that will be absolutely unacceptable for Iran,” Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow.
Russia’s top diplomat, who stressed that Russia will work to preserve the existing Iran nuclear deal, also warned that the agreement’s collapse could be detrimental to dialogue with North Korea.
Lavrov suggested Pyongyang would look at how Iran had been treated by Washington and wonder if any deal it did with the United States on its own missile and nuclear programme would hold or also be called into question.
“If the deal is put aside and Iran is told, ‘you keep up with your obligations or we will impose sanctions again’, then you have to see it from North Korea’s point of view,” said Lavrov, stressing the international community should approach the two countries’ nuclear programmes in the same manner.
“They are being promised that sanctions will be lifted if they give up their nuclear programme. They will give it up, but no one will lift the sanctions against Pyongyang.”
In separate comments on Monday, Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s National Security Council, said Trump’s threats to withdraw from the nuclear deal were fanning “Iranophobia” and meant to deprive Tehran of the agreement’s economic benefits.
“Scaring the international community with the decisions of a mad man is a repetitive tactic that has proved to be ineffective,” Fars news agency quoted Shamkhani as saying.
11 Comments
#'~A*[email protected](>NRmm]w?dU4v!=^%
January 15, 2018 at 14:26Excellent move. Now we need the EU together with China to stand up and say the same, and make it crystal clear to Washington that any secondary sanctions the US imposes that would affect non-US companies, will be met by reciprocal direct actions on US companies. Together the EU & China have more economic clout than the US.
But 1 fundamental question remains: do the EU and China have the courage and willpower to stand up to Washington?
Plasma Dawn
January 15, 2018 at 14:38Now we need the EU together with China…? We? Who exactly are this collective “we”? Iran? Syria? North Korea?
And good luck having China and the EU imposing retaliatory sanctions on the US. But is it a nice pipe dream for the likes of #’~A*[email protected](>NRmm]w?dU4v!=^% aka Anansi Tori aka Paranam Kid…
#'~A*[email protected](>NRmm]w?dU4v!=^%
January 15, 2018 at 14:51What’s the matter PD/Poor Debater, a couple of people got you upset, so you need to resort to your usual ad hominem attacks? That is what you resort to when you are so desperate for lack of valid discussion points. Yesterday you demonstrated it brilliantly in our little 1-on-1 Israel the Apartheid state here http://cyprus-mail.COM/2018/01/11/israel-approves-hundreds-new-settlement-homes-ngo/#comment-3708607847. Cornered by facts you ran dry completely & could only think of resorting to an AH attack.
Oh well, it sure shows your moral weakness.
Plasma Dawn
January 15, 2018 at 16:10Have a nice day too, Anansi Tori aka Paranam Kid. Poor debater? And then talking about AH attacks in the same breath.
Not interested in this kind of conversation.
#'~A*[email protected](>NRmm]w?dU4v!=^%
January 15, 2018 at 17:04Not interested in this kind of conversation.
LOL, you just can’t stop yourself from talking about those 2 characters you seem to be obsessed about, and you certainly are obsessed about replying to every comment I make and to try to make your ad hominem attacks hit home. You’re not even aware of how ridiculous you keep making yourself. A sure sign of weakness, I pity you.
Lev
January 16, 2018 at 14:26Why would EU & China take Iran’s side!? What would be the logic behind it?
Why would the EU support Iran that consistently violates human rights?
What would be China’s profit in sanctioning US companies??
#'~A*[email protected](>NRmm]w?dU4v!=^%
January 16, 2018 at 16:24The logic is very simple & straightforward: the US does not have the right to impose its views & policies on other countries, esp. its allies.
As for Iran’s human rights violations, there is another country where those HRVs are a lot worse, with an entire ethnic group is subjugated, dispossessed, demonised, dehumanised & ultimately destroyed. And with that country the EU & China have strong ongoing business ties, so HRVs. So your double standards are best left off the table in this case.
Lev
January 16, 2018 at 17:46That’s all besides the point. Irrespective of whether the US has that right or no, why would the EU or China want to challenge the US sanctions?
I mean; let’s assume that you are right, the US is just persuing it’s own vested interests by sanctioning Iran. What is China’s benefit of challenging the US when China’s trade with US is so much greater than with Iran?
#'~A*[email protected](>NRmm]w?dU4v!=^%
January 16, 2018 at 19:10It is very much to the point. The US has threatened to impose additional sanctions, as well as so-called secondary sanctions. The former affect US businesses, the latter affect US as well as non-US busiesses, and it is the latter that I believe are compltely unacceptable because it means the US is imposing it views & will on the rest of the world.
The US has had the economic might to get away with it, but I believe that if the EU & China were to operate in cncert they would be stronger than the US whose economic & political influence is declining.
So, yes, business opportunities in the US are greater than in Iran, but it is not the responsibility of the US to determine where non-US companies do business. Furthermore, today they forbid Iran, yesterday they forbade Russia, tomorrow they will forbid EU companies doing business in China. This behaviour is totally unacceptable, but a sycophantic EU and a not-so-assertive China probably lack the courage & willpower to take this on.
Lev
January 16, 2018 at 23:37Well, it’s true that China and EU have just as much rights to impose sanctions as the US. You could argue that both are acceptable or unacceptable. But then again, if China and EU can impose sanctions then they would be imposing their own world view, essential negating the moral argument. Even ignoring that the EU world view is much more aligned with the US than China.
#'~A*[email protected](>NRmm]w?dU4v!=^%
January 17, 2018 at 07:51I am not suggesting the EU & China impose primary & secondary sanctions, they should just impose primary sanctions, i.e. sanctions on the US directly. And by imposing primary sanctions the EU & China are not imposing their world view but are making a stand against the US’s secondary sanctions.
It is the US that came up with the secondary sanctions concept and needs to be made to understand it is not acceptable.
As for the EU’s world view being more aligned with the US:
1. that is not just “alignment”, it is being sycophantic, it is a master-slave relationship
2. it is time the EU becomes independent & develops its own views & position that are more to its own advantage – the future is China & Asia with the New Silk Road & all that goes with it, not the US which is an empire -in-decline in its death throws.