Lavrov: Iran, Venezuela support OPEC+ mechanism

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Iran and Venezuela agree that only OPEC+ can decide on oil production quotas for each member, and there is no reason to believe that this mechanism will be abandoned.

Over Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine, US President Joe Biden previously banned Russian energy supplies and new investments in the Russian energy sector. 

Furthermore, several European countries have ratified the sanctions. Simultaneously, global energy prices have skyrocketed as a result of the move.

"The Americans are running with this issue [oil and gas supplies] to Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Qatar. All the countries I have listed, including Venezuela and Iran, clearly say that 'when we consider issues related to new participants in the oil market, we are all committed to the OPEC + format, where quotas for each participant are discussed and agreed on based on consensus'," Lavrov stressed at the Leaders of Russia event.

He added that there is no reason to believe that the OPEC+ mechanism will be abandoned in the future because no one is interested in doing so.

Lavrov commented on the topic of the Iranian nuclear deal by saying that Russia does not intend to hinder its revival or the lifting of the oil embargo on Iran, which will allow the US to replace Russian oil in the world market.

"On the political arena, we never betray our friends. Venezuela is our friend, Iran is a state very close to us. Also, we never put our selfish interests first. Americans do that. They have really turned to[thinking] 'we need to teach the Russians a lesson, so we do not care anymore about the regime, as they used to call it, in Caracas, we do not care about Iran, let's restore this deal as soon as possible if only to punish the Russians," he said.

According to Lavrov, this type of thinking is indicative of a deeper problem with international institutions and so-called Western democracy.