Russian official: Anti-Iran sanctions policy would fail

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov criticized the West’s approach towards Iran, stressing that the anti-Iran sanctions policy would fail. In an interview with a Russian state radio station, he reiterated that the Islamic Republic will never surrender because of pressuers. He noted that Moscow is against sanctions and believes that they have made the situation unstable. Ryabkov further voiced Moscow’s insistence on continued dialogue, stressing that there are severe differences of views between Russia and the entire West, including the US. Criticizing the recent anti-Iran report released by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he said in the IAEA November report, the existing information was misused as political tools in order to halt the process of negotiations with Iran. “Such an approach is not accepted by Moscow and we have announced our stand on the issue to the United Nations nuclear watchdog,” he said. Moscow believes that the agency, as a neutral and professional body, should not get involved in political games, the Russian diplomat emphasized. Terming Iran-IAEA cooperation as very important, he said the two sides should resolve the issue through negotiations and bilateral cooperation. He reiterated that the sanctions policy would not lead to strengthening of the objectives of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in the world. Ryabkov stressed that the objective behind the anti-Iran sanctions was to create numerous problems for various Iranian economic sectors. Moscow has transparently made it clear to its partners in the Group 5+1 and other western sides, involved in imposing sanctions on Iran, that such a policy will not bear any fruit, he concluded.