Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov called the US threats against Russia and China in connection with the situation with sanctions against Iran groundless.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo threatened Moscow and Beijing with "consequences" if they refuse to comply with the sanctions regime against Tehran being restored by Washington through the UN.
"No threats that are already being heard from Washington that Russia and China should think about the consequences (in the usual American style) will change our position," Ryabkov said.
Last week, the UN Security Council did not support the US resolution to extend the arms embargo against Iran. Currently, under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the authorization procedure for the supply of military equipment to Iran is temporary and expires on October 18. Only the United States and the Dominican Republic voted in favor of the resolution. Russia and China were against it. The other 11 members of the Security Council abstained.
Washington plans to resume sanctions, despite the lack of agreement of the Security Council members. Mike Pompeo will visit the UN headquarters in New York on August 20-21 and announce the decision of the US authorities. Washington is going to restore a number of restrictions, including a ban on the supply of weapons, which will be extended for 13 years.
The American side demands that Tehran suspend all activities related to uranium enrichment. Against the background of these statements, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran announced plans to increase the enrichment capacity to 190 thousand EPR (a unit of work on the separation of isotopes, one of the indicators of the operation of centrifuges). Tehran claims that these intentions do not go beyond the terms of the nuclear deal.
Ryabkov called the US actions on Iran absurd
Moscow condemns the US intention to "restore" UN Security Council sanctions against Iran, these actions of Washington are absurd, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
Earlier, President Donald Trump said that the US Secretary of State on his behalf would go to the UN to notify the organization of the beginning of the procedure for restoring anti-Iranian sanctions under resolution 2231. The US says that the sanctions will take effect 30 days after the official notification of the UN.
Assessing the actions of the United States, Ryabkov recalled that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and UN Security Council resolution 2231, which are a single whole - "these are closely interrelated documents" - contain a special procedure for restoring sanctions against Iran lifted by resolution 2231 in case of gross non-compliance with its provisions.
The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister explained that this was done "with the consent of the Iranians, who were deeply convinced that there would be no problems."
"After the United States withdrew from the JCPOA, they have completely lost any rights under this document. They have no legal or political grounds, as we believe, to invoke the provisions of UN Security Council resolution 2231 against Iran. This is absurd, " Ryabkov said.
According to him, Moscow condemns such actions of the United States.
"But what is obvious to people who are guided by common sense, in the modern "Washington looking glass" is disputed and turned upside down. Therefore, they claim that they have legitimate grounds, despite the fact that they withdrew from the JCPOA more than two years ago, in fact, to abuse the provisions of this document. We categorically deny this," the senior Russian diplomat said.
Agreement on the Iranian nuclear program
In July 2015, Iran and the six international negotiators reached a historic agreement to resolve the long-standing problem of the Iranian atom. Months of negotiations concluded with the adoption of a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was to completely withdraw from Iran's previously imposed economic and financial sanctions by the UN Security Council, US and EU. The agreement also stipulated that the arms embargo would be lifted from Iran within five years, and arms deliveries would be possible earlier, but only with the permission of the UN Security Council. The deal in its original form did not last even three years: in May 2018, the US announced a unilateral withdrawal from it and the restoration of strict sanctions against Tehran.
Resolution 2231, adopted in 2015, contains a mechanism for automatically resuming UN sanctions against Iran in the event that Iran does not comply with its obligations under the JCPOA (the so-called "snapback" mechanism). This mechanism has been in effect for 10 years since 2015. The resolution assumes that if any serious violations by Iran are detected during this period, the country will be able to avoid sanctions only if the relevant UN Security Council resolution is adopted. If at least one of its permanent members speaks out against it, the sanctions will automatically be renewed within 30 days.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Anton Novoderezhkin / TASS
Based on materials from RIA Novosti