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Russia’s former FM warns against pushing tough line on Iran

Iran understands very well that the sanctions regime hinders the effort to strengthen the country’s international position, former Rusian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said

MOSCOW, November 24. /TASS/. The possible failure of talks on Iran’s nuclear program will signal a defeat of all sides seeking to develop constructive relations with Tehran, a former Russian foreign minister and head of Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), Igor Ivanov, said on Monday.

“Iran understands very well that the sanctions regime hinders the effort to strengthen the country’s international position, and that’s why it actively looks for common ground with its opponents and even overt adversaries,” Ivanov told a conference on the strategic partnership between Russia and Iran.

The politician said there are no guarantees that the current Iranian leaders will not yield to a more conservative and anti-Western group in the future. “The failure of the current Iranian leadership would be also a failure of its partners at talks,” he said.

“The political failure of President (Hassan) Rouhani would be our common failure. Those politicians who today call for resuming the West’s tough line against Tehran, should better think about the costs of this approach,” Ivanov said.

Ivanov reminded that Iran has been developing its peaceful nuclear program for around four decades despite difficulties related to the revolution and the war with neighboring Iraq. “There are no grounds to believe that Iran’s stance will change in the future. But can we equate peaceful atom and nuclear weapons proliferation? I think not,” he stressed.

Speaking on relations between Russia and Iran, Ivanov said the sides have yet failed to build a true strategic partnership. “One should acknowledge that our relations with Iran still lack the foundation which could allow us to speak about a real and not a declaratory strategic partnership,” he said.

The politician called on the sides to step up cooperation on regional issues, as well to develop economic, scientific and technical ties and also humanitarian contacts.