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EU sanctions against Iran counterproductive - Lavrov

The introduction of EU sanctions against Iran is counterproductive, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on arrival in Auckland, New Zealand

AUCKLAND (New Zealand), January 30 (Itar-Tass) — The introduction of EU sanctions against Iran is counterproductive, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on arrival in Auckland, New Zealand.

“Russia has consistently advocated a view that the sanctions do not work, and in some cases they are counterproductive,” said the minister. “In this case we see that the law according to which there is a reaction to every action works. Nothing good will come of it.”

Commenting on Tehran’s threats on suspension of Iranian oil exports to the EU, Lavrov said that “Russia has nothing to do with this situation. Iran’s decision is caused by the EU decision to refuse starting from July from the imports of Iranian oil.”

Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow regrets and is worried by the news about a new set of unilateral EU sanctions against Iran. “Basically, this is an attempt to strangle whole industries of the Iranian economy,” the ministry said. It described the sanctions as downright pressure and diktat, an attempt to “punish” Iran for its intransigence. “This is a deeply erroneous line of behaviour, as we have repeatedly pointed out to our European partners,” the ministry said.

On Sunday, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi announced that Iran would soon stop oil exports “to some countries.” According to him, the decision of the European Union countries to introduce by July 1 an embargo on imports of Iranian oil would not create any difficulties for the Islamic Republic. “Iran has other sales markets, and the EU embargo will not create any problems for it,” said the minister, recalling that the EU countries account for less than 20 percent of Iranian oil exports.

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