MOSCOW, February 23. /TASS/. Russia calls on the United States and its allies to refuse from their plans of delivering strikes on civilian nuclear facilities in Iran, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Dmitry Lyubinsky said at a high-level meeting of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations in Geneva.
"We call on the United States and its allies to abandon plans of delivering strikes on Iran’s civilian nuclear sites," he said. "We strongly urge Washington to provide firm guarantees that there will be no further military confrontation."
"Russia is ready to provide all necessary assistance to resume efforts to find diplomatic solutions on Iran's peaceful nuclear program," he stressed.
According to the diplomat, Russia has been observing the United States and its allies’ destructive steps toward fanning tensions in Iran and surrounding it. "First, the West openly instigated protesters to attack law enforcement officers and forcibly seize key government institutions," he went on to say. "After this plan for provoking a state coup failed, Washington began threatening Tehran with strikes on its territory. And now these threats are toughening."
What the United States and its satellites are currently doing "fits into the notorious policy of maximum pressure, which is a gross violation of the UN Charter, namely the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of states and the prohibition of the threat or use of force," he said. "The central element of this policy is unilateral coercive measures."