Lavrov says that the US guaranteed that sanctions will not affect the Russia-Iran relationship
The US government has guaranteed Russia that the international sanctions imposed for its invasion of Ukraine will not affect its commercial and military relations with Iran, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.
After meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hosein Amir Abdolahian in Moscow to discuss the Ukraine war and negotiations to revive the nuclear deal, Lavrov said Washington had assured him "in writing" that Russia's cooperation with Iran is protected from sanctions, one of Moscow's requirements for unblocking the talks.
"We have received written assurances. They are part of the agreement on the resumption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA] on Iran's nuclear programme," Lavrov said in remarks carried by official Russian agencies.
The veteran head of Russian diplomacy assured that this "solid protection" covers all the projects included in the JCPOA, including "the direct participation of our companies and specialists" in the Bushehr nuclear power plant project, which has been operating since 2011 and is located 17 kilometres from the southern city of the same name, on the Persian Gulf coast.
Prior to the meeting with his Iranian counterpart, the Russian Foreign Minister had said that negotiations to revive the nuclear deal with Tehran, following the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the 2015 pact, are "on the home stretch".
Iran is engaged in negotiations to salvage the 2015 pact with Germany, France, the UK, Russia and China, with the indirect participation of the US, whose former president, Donald Trump, unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Tehran.
After 11 months of tough negotiations, it appeared that the deal limiting Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions was a done deal.
But earlier this month, Lavrov asked for written assurances that trade and military relations with Tehran would not be affected by the sanctions imposed on Russia for its 24 February invasion of Ukraine, which has prompted protests from the rest of the Iranian negotiating partners and the imposition of sanctions on Moscow.
Iranian Minister Abdolahian told the same press conference at the end of the meeting that his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmitry Kuleba, had asked him to convey to Lavrov a message about the need to reach a political solution to the invasion of Ukraine.
"Yesterday evening (Monday) I had a long conversation with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, he asked me to deliver to Mr Lavrov the message that Ukraine advocates ceasing the war and focusing on the political solution," Abdolahian said at the end of the meeting, and said he favoured a solution along those lines.
Ukrainian and Russian representatives are holding negotiations to reach an agreement to end the war, the fifth round of which began today. Lavrov reiterated at the press conference that, for Russia, the aim of these negotiations is "to ensure the neutral military status of Ukraine in the context of security guarantees for all participants in this process, in the context of the demilitarisation of Ukraine, so that no threat to Russia comes from its territory".
