Europe paying price for US policies: Iran’s FM

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Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian emphasized the need to pinpoint the underlying reasons for the Ukrainian problem and prevent reckless actions that inflame hostilities, saying Europe is suffering as a result of US policy in this area.

Amir-Abdollahian gave a speech during the third Tehran Dialogue Forum (TCF), which kicked off in Tehran on Monday with international officials and representatives taking part. This year, the TCF concentrated on how the Islamic Republic of Iran treats its neighbors and how it cultivates friendship and trust.

Amir-Abdollahian, former Iraqi prime minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada, and Kamal Kharrazi, chairman of the Strategic Council of Foreign Relations, were among the keynote speakers who delivered the opening address.

In his address to the forum,  Amir-Abdollahian reiterated Iran’s call for the political settlement of the crisis in Ukraine. He stressed Iran's impartiality in the Ukraine conflict and the need for negotiations to address the genuine security concerns of the warring parties.

He added, "Today, Europe is paying the price for the US' policies," emphasizing Iran's belief that a one-sided perspective on the crisis would not be productive. Instead, the root causes of the crisis should be determined as well as the reckless actions of specific actors who started it, made it worse, and sparked one side of the conflict.

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This comes after Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said that the European Union's fresh sanctions on Russia jeopardize the interests of the member states.

"They [EU states] are abandoning market principles — in energy, finance, and in many other areas. This is their choice. But this choice, when implemented in concrete actions, undermines international economic relations in the form, in which they have been formed in recent years, and undermines the economic interests of these countries," Grushko said.

The official went on to say that it is obvious that the United States benefits from all of these sanctions, stressing that Russia will implement policies to secure its economic interests.

The permanent representatives of EU countries on December 15 agreed on the ninth package of sanctions against Russia. The EU has already imposed eight waves of unprecedented anti-Russia sanctions since the start of the Ukraine war in February, including targeting Russian key oil exports. 

After the adoption of several packages of sanctions against Moscow by the West, western sanctions backfired, having detrimental effects on the world's global markets, most notably gas and oil. European governments are now suffering the repercussions of their sanctions amid rising strikes and protests over the cost of living and pay.