Russia, Spain Slam US 'Ultimatums' on Iran

The foreign ministers of Spain and Russia on Tuesday hit out at US sanctions policy against Iran and ultimatums they say are being imposed by Donald Trump's administration.

President Trump in May abandoned a 2015 multi-nation deal with Iran aimed at reining in its nuclear program.

The deal had been unanimously endorsed by a United Nations Security Council resolution, making it legally binding.

On Monday, Washington reimposed its last tranche of sanctions—punitive measures targeting the Iranian oil and financial sectors.

The Trump administration nevertheless gave eight countries temporary waivers, allowing them to continue to buy oil from Iran—China, India, Turkey, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Italy and Greece.

But in general the US sanctions stipulate that to maintain access to the US market, countries and foreign companies must stop trading with Iran.

“Sanctions are absolutely illegitimate, they are are being imposed in flagrant violation of the UN Security Council's decision," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in Madrid.

"And the forms in which these measures are being declared and implemented cannot cause anything but deep disappointment.

"It is not acceptable in our age to pursue a policy based on ultimatums and unilateral demands."

Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell concurred, saying he rejected "any kind of position that resembles an ultimatum from anyone and also from the United States.

"This notion of 'you're either with me or against me' is of another era."

Photo Credit: Wikicommons

Russia, China to Stop Bid to 'Sabotage' Iran Deal: Lavrov

China and Russia will block any attempts to "sabotage" the Iran nuclear agreement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday, as US President Donald Trump mulls whether to scrap the deal.

Trump has set a May 12 deadline to "fix" the 2015 accord, which curbs Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief and was the fruit of intense diplomacy involving the US, European powers, Russia and China.

"There are attempts to interfere with the international order upon which the United Nations depends," Lavrov said after talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing.

"We said clearly with China that we will stop attempts to sabotage these agreements that were passed in a UN Security Council resolution," Lavrov said.

He was speaking on the eve of a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a regional security bloc spearheaded by Moscow and Beijing.

Calling the Iran agreement "one of the biggest achievements in international diplomacy in recent times", Lavrov said that "revising this document is unacceptable."

Trump has threatened to abandon the accord unless European capitals agree to supplement it with tougher controls on Iran's missile program and its future ability to enrich nuclear fuel.

His partners maintain that  implementation of the agreement under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is the best way to prevent Tehran from seeking an atomic bomb.

Iran warned Saturday it was ready to "vigorously" resume nuclear enrichment if the United States ditches the deal.

Photo Credit: Wikicommons