Russia continues to support Iran despite US pressures

Tabnak – As Iran’s close partners on many bilateral and regional issues, Russia is increasingly worried about the current tensions between Tehran and Washington. The new round of American sanctions, targeting a number of high-ranking Iranian officials, has sparked a fresh reaction from Moscow.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warns that the new round of US sanctions on Iran is “alarming,” saying the bans signal that the situation amid Washington-Tehran tensions is headed towards a dangerous scenario.

Speaking at a news conference in Maldives on Tuesday, Lavrov expressed his concern over the ongoing events and the latest move by US President Donald Trump’s administration to impose “another round of sanctions, very personal sanctions” against senior Iranian officials.

He emphasized that these restrictions “are alarming and sending a signal that the situation is unfolding under a very bad scenario,” Russian media cited him as saying.

The top Russian diplomat said the current tensions over Iran were reminiscent of events in 2003 when the US tried to build a case for invading Iraq. Back then, Washington claimed that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, which was proven false post-invasion.

“All of us know the result. In May [2003], the US declared victory of democracy in Iraq. Draw your conclusion on how this democracy has demonstrated itself over the 16 past years,” Lavrov said.

Meanwhile, Moscow continues to support Tehran’s positions on a number of critical issues. In this vein, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top security aide says Moscow has military intelligence indicating that a US spy drone was intruding into Iranian airspace when it was shot down by Iran’s air defenses, despite Washington’s claims to the contrary.

“I have information from the Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation that this drone was in Iranian airspace,” Head of Russia’s Security Council Nikolai Patrushev said at a briefing for journalists in Jerusalem/al-Quds on Tuesday.

Tensions have been running high between Iran and the United States after Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) shot down on June 20 an intruding Global Hawk surveillance drone, which had violated Iranian airspace on a spying mission despite repeated warnings.

On Monday, Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions on Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, his office and eight senior commanders of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

The Russian Foreign Ministry also issued a statement on Tuesday to criticize the latest round of US sanctions against Iran. Since leaving the 2015 Iran deal last year, the US has been escalating tensions by making baseless accusations against Tehran and building up pressure with new rounds of sanctions, it said.

“The US authorities should consider what the results of their reckless course towards Iran could be. It is fraught with not only destabilization of the Middle East, but could also undermine the entire system of international security,” the ministry said.