TOKYO, January 10. /TASS/. The US policy of maximum pressure on Iran will bear no fruit, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters on Friday after talks with his Japanese colleague Takeo Mori.
The meeting between the Russian and Japanese diplomats took place in Tokyo within the framework of the 11th round of the Russian-Japanese strategic dialogue.
"We think that this ill-advised step that seeks to raise the stakes can end in a disaster. We call on the USA, who is essentially responsible for the escalation, not to fall under its own illusions thinking that the policy of maximum pressure on Tehran can bear any fruit. This policy will not bring the results necessary to the US, provoking another wave of tensions and increasing the risk of open conflict instead," he said.
Tensions around Iran escalated following a US drone strike near Baghdad's airport on January 3, which killed General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force. On January 8, Iran targeted Iraq’s Ain Al-Asad air base and a facility in Erbil, which house US troops, in retaliation for the attack.