On April 7, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will visit Baku to attend a meeting of the Russian, Azerbaijani and Iranian foreign ministers. The parties will exchange opinions on transport projects and multilateral interaction in the Caspian region. And today Washington hosts the meeting of the 5+1 Group, which is going to discuss the process of implementation of the Agreement with Iran. The President of the US plans to join the participants of the meeting, who will discuss the implementation of the Nuclear Agreement with Iran and the IAEA report on the issue.
Maria Zakharova, the Spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, answered questions as to whether Russia supported the sovereignty of Iran and how Moscow assessed new possible sanctions against Iran at a briefing yesterday: “We certainly support the sovereignty of Iran. We never could have imagined anything else. The UN member state has full sovereignty, and nobody has the right to infringe on it. This is the first and fundamental thesis. The second point, everything that concerns the internal processes, the development of any spheres of economic activity, activity related to the military-industrial complex, defense programs etc., of course this is the sovereign affair of the state itself. Of course, it should proceed without violation of relevant international norms and rules. If such activity is carried out within the framework and limits of international law, there can be no doubt about it.”
According to Zakharova, the situation with Iran remains quite complicated, even though an old node, associated with the Iranian nuclear program, was finally solved: “The issue is sensitive. There are still voices of those who have supported a military solution, who have opposed the normalization of relations with Iran. I think that it is necessary to take it into account, and also respect the international community's efforts, which were aimed at the hard work associated with the solution of the Iranian nuclear issue. And this consensus that has been reached by the international community must be respected by everyone: the international community, which joined this process, Iran, the major world powers, and so on. The atmosphere of constructive work on solving a very difficult long-term issue should not be compromised by individual actions, reactions to these actions, it must be preserved. We must not forget this unique experience of work on the Iranian nuclear program.”
