MOSCOW, September 14. /TASS/. The US is trying to drive a wedge between Moscow and Tehran with statements about alleged deliveries of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia, but they won't succeed, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told reporters on the sidelines of the BRICS Media Summit.
"America wants to drive a wedge between our countries and play on someone else's field in their own interests. They won't succeed," the deputy minister said, answering the question of what Washington is trying to achieve with such statements.
"Our cooperation has stood the test of time, it does not contain elements that a) violate anything from the point of view of international legal obligations, b) somehow negatively affect anyone's security or any regional balances," the senior diplomat said.
Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya called Western allegations about Iran supplying Russia with ballistic missiles groundless insinuations at a meeting of the Security Council on September 13. According to him, they are being presented by Kiev's Western allies to provide a pretext for Ukraine to strike their weapons deep into Russian territory.
Moscow and Tehran have repeatedly rejected versions of Iranian weapons being supplied to Russia for use in Ukraine. On September 11, the Islamic Republic's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Iran had not supplied Russia with any ballistic missiles and that the US and Europe were relying on unreliable information.
Moscow hosts the BRICS Media Summit on September 13-17. The event brings together the heads of leading media outlets from the group’s member states and the countries that have applied to join BRICS. TASS is the organizer of the summit.