Iran, Russia military cooperation not directed against any side: FM

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
29 Mar 2023 11:58
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Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian hails Russia for playing an important role in the last rounds of the Vienna talks between Iran and the 4+1 group of countries.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov welcomes his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, prior to their meeting in Moscow on October 6, 2021. (AFP)

Upon arriving in Moscow on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told reporters that he will tackle the nuclear deal among other regional and international issues with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

“The window of dialogue is still open and one of the topics of the conversation with Mr. Lavrov is the JCPOA and the return of parties to their commitments,” he stated.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he recalled that “Russia has played an important role in the new round of the Vienna talks between Iran and the 4+1 group of countries, which lasted for months.”

It is worth noting that talks between the JCPOA's parties began in April 2021 in Vienna with the goal of bringing the US back into the accord and ending its "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran.

However, the negotiations have been at a standstill since August 2022 mainly due to US unwillingness to lift any sanctions against Iran among other main sticking points.

“Our Russian colleagues still keep up efforts toward the return of all sides to their commitments. Naturally, the JCPOA will be one of the subjects to be discussed,” he said.

Regarding the US policy of sanctions, Amir-Abdollahian described it as a failed approach, further referring to it as a "tool for economic terrorism against nations."

"We believe that today’s sanctions policy is ineffective, incorrect, and a terrorist war against nations,” he reiterated.

The Iranian Foreign Minister also hailed growing cooperation with Moscow most notably in the fields of business, politics, culture, tourism, security, and defense.

Commenting on the question regarding US worries about defense cooperation between Russia, the top Iranian diplomat assured that such cooperation will not be directed against any third party.

He added that over the previous 1.5 years, the volume of trade between Iran and Russia has expanded by a factor of more than 3.5.