Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's remarks and answers to media questions at a news conference following talks with Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Moscow, March 29, 2023
29 March 2023 17:05
576-29-03-2023
Ladies and gentlemen,
We have held long and substantive talks in a traditionally trust-based and friendly atmosphere.
Both sides are satisfied with the positive trends in our bilateral relations. In 2022, our presidents communicated with each other four times. In 2023, they have had three telephone conversations. There will be other contacts. There have been meetings of the Interparliamentary Commission on Cooperation and our security council secretaries. Ties between our regions and business communities are growing stronger.
We focused on encouraging the continued development of our trade, economic and investment ties. We pointed out the continuing stable growth of our trade, despite the illegitimate sanctions adopted by the United States and its satellites. In 2022, it reached a new record high of $4.86 billion, which is over 20 percent more than in 2021. We have agreed to continue working together to build up practical cooperation, including between our business communities and regions. We highlighted the implementation of joint priority projects in the nuclear and fuel sectors and in transport.
We praised the work done by the Intergovernmental Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation. It held its regular meeting on November 1, 2022, in Grozny.
We decided to step up our efforts to advance the negotiating process so that Iran and the EAEU can sign a comprehensive free-trade agreement in lieu of the provisional agreement to this effect which is now in force. Of course, in the context of Iran-EAEU relations, liberalising customs tariffs will serve as an additional impetus for expanding our trade.
We have been improving the legal framework for our trade. Russia and Iran are currently working on about 20 documents. I will note that efforts to draft a new major treaty instead of the document signed in 2001, which remains in force, are well underway and have been gathering momentum. This new document is expected to be ready soon.
We share coinciding or close positions on key international and regional matters, and reaffirmed our refusal to accept the destructive policy of the collective West aimed at replacing international law and a UN-centric architecture with a US-led rules-based order, as the Americans call it. In this connection, we reaffirmed our commitment to working together closely within the Group of Friends in Defence of the Charter of the United Nations, which was established in New York.
We reviewed in detail developments around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear programme. We share the view that there is no alternative to this international agreement as approved unanimously by the UN Security Council in Resolution 2231. We want its implementation to resume in full and without delay, while opposing any actions that may prevent this from happening. The world is still waiting for the United States to assume once again its obligations under the Iran nuclear deal. We stressed that all illegal sanctions against Iran must be lifted.
We welcomed the fact that the situation in the Middle East has improved, including in light of the recent announcement by Iran and Saudi Arabia on restoring their diplomatic relations. This is the outcome we have been advocating for at all times by making specific proposals, including as part of Russia's Collective Security Concept for the Gulf Region, which shares a lot in common with Iran's Hormuz Peace Endeavor.
We reaffirmed our support for an expeditious completion of the process of formalising Iran's full membership in the SCO. This should happen in 2023 and will be a logical continuation of Tehran's many years of constructive interaction with this organisation, which ensures stability in the Eurasian space.
We exchanged views on the situation in and around Syria. We praised the outcome of the 19th round of the International Meeting on Syria in the Astana format held in November 2022 in Kazakhstan. We emphasised the importance of the Astana format as the main mechanism for international support of the Syrian settlement.
We discussed other key topics, including the Middle East settlement, the resolution of the Palestinian problem, the situation in Afghanistan, the South Caucasus and Yemen, and the Caspian agenda.
We hope that the current tensions between Baku and Tehran are temporary and will be overcome as soon as possible. This will also contribute to the advancement of trilateral cooperation between Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan, including in the context of the interest confirmed by all parties in the implementation of important projects as part of the development of the International North-South Transport Corridor. We are ready to help our friends in resolving any problems.
We touched upon the situation in and around Ukraine. Once again, we highlighted the subversive policy pursued by the NATO countries, which have long been parties to this conflict. They can't get involved any deeper. They are actually fighting on the side of the Kiev regime. We appreciate Tehran's balanced position on the issue and the understanding of the true motives of what is happening shown by the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The talks have been useful and productive. We will continue to work in all these areas, taking into account all the new agreements reached today.
Question (retranslated from Farsi): Why are the Americans dragging their feet when it comes to returning to their JCPOA obligations? What factors are influencing this?
Sergey Lavrov: That's an easy question. There are a lot of things where you cannot understand why the United States does something or doesn't do anything. To my mind, our Iranian friends have an opportunity to ask the Americans directly. Personally, I would not engage in guesswork on behalf of the current administration.
Question: The People's Republic of China was active as a mediator. In this connection, I would like to ask how Tehran assesses China's global security initiative and what view it holds on China's position regarding the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis?
Sergey Lavrov (speaking after Hossein Amir-Abdollahian): Let me say a couple of words because these questions concern our immediate neighbour, the People's Republic of China.
A week ago, President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to the Russian Federation. Our leaders, President of Russia Vladimir Putin and PRC President Xi Jinping, discussed global security on a broad scale. The relevant PRC initiative was also mentioned. Our common opinion is that the main thing for all these discussions today is to introduce the indivisibility of security principle to any talks or agreements required in this area.
This principle states that no country should strengthen its security at the expense of the security of others. It is based on the UN Charter, which stipulates the need to respect the sovereign equality of states. I will not go into detail as to who is undermining these fundamental norms of international law (it is clear to everyone that it is the United States and its satellites).
As for the PRC initiative on the Ukrainian affairs, this topic was also discussed and commented on during the news conference given by President Vladimir Putin and President Xi Jinping. We respect Iran's interest in a peaceful settlement of this situation, which my colleague Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has just confirmed. We have always been ready for this. It is not our fault that Ukraine reneged on its own initiative in April 2022, following the Istanbul round of talks.
Questions about how to stop this conflict should be addressed to the Western politicians and the Kiev regime, who declare every day and in different formats that the war must not be stopped now and that the effort to pour weapons to Ukraine should continue. These questions are not for Iran, Russia, or China.
The latest tirade came from our colleague, Mr Antony Blinken, who said yesterday that a ceasefire now would be in the interests of the Russian Federation and that it cannot be allowed. I find it difficult to say what this shallow analysis is based on. Our only guess (we have exchanged views on this today) is that the West does not want to stop the war because it sees its geopolitical interests in it, primarily from the point of view of its attempts to get rid of yet another international rival in the person of the Russian Federation. Our Chinese friends are also aware that they too have been designated in NATO documents as long-term rivals and adversaries, who must be neutralised as well.
Russia, Iran, China and many other countries, including members of the Group of Friends in Defence of the UN Charter I have mentioned, will resolutely oppose the attempts to assert the Western hegemony for all ages to come, as Washington and its stooges are trying to do.
Question (retranslated from Farsi): Russia is in favour of reviving the JCPOA as soon as possible and plays an important part in the 4+1 negotiations. What measures should be taken to compel the parties to return to fulfilling their obligations?
Sergey Lavrov: We are in favour of restoring the JCPOA and UN Security Council Resolution 2231 to full effect. In this sense, we are monitoring the contacts between our Iranian colleagues, on the one hand, and the Europeans and Americans, on the other.
We proceed from the premise that these contacts will achieve the result that everyone is talking about, namely the resumption of full implementation of the agreements on the Iranian nuclear programme. The final decision must be taken within the circle of all JCPOA parties, including Russia and the PRC.
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