TEHRAN – Currently there is no restriction in the UN Security Council on the technical-military cooperation with Iran and that Russia has every right to seek such cooperation with Iran, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
“At present, there are no restrictions in the UN Security Council on technical-military cooperation with Iran. Our government has a full right to interact in this direction,” Lavrov said.
The Russian foreign minister made the remarks in an interview with the Russian Sputnik news agency published on Tuesday.
“Russia's military technology cooperation policy is fully compliant with international law and fully complies with Russian export control laws, which are one of the strictest in the world,” Lavrov pointed out.
He underlined that Russia will abide by international laws in dealing with Iran.
“I repeat: during the implementation of military technology cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran, Russia, while undoubtedly has the right to guarantee its defense capability, strictly adheres to its international obligations and follows the priority of maintaining stability and security in the region,” the chief Russian diplomat noted.
Russia was a staunch supporter of Iran during the Iran-U.S. showdown at the UN Security Council in September when the Trump administration sought to extend a UN arms embargo on Iran by triggering what came to be known as the snapback process, a legal mechanism built into the JCPOA which allows a “JCPOA participant state” to restore all UN sanctions, including the arms embargo, on Iran in case it didn’t uphold its obligations under the nuclear deal. Most of the Security Council members said the U.S. had no legal right to trigger the mechanism because it withdrew from the JCPOA on May 8, 2018.
But despite global opposition, the U.S. triggered the process with no success because almost all members of the UN Security Council refused to acknowledge the legality of the U.S. move.
Russia was one of these members which questioned the U.S. push to extend the UN arms embargo on Iran. Lavrov had said that there would be no limitations whatsoever on arms supplies to and from Iran after the expiration of the UN arms embargo in September.
“There is no such thing as an arms embargo against Iran. The Security Council, when it was adopting the comprehensive Resolution 2231, which endorsed [the] Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which settled the nuclear issue for Iran, and this was adopted by consensus under the chapter 7 of the United Nations’ charter,” Lavrov said in an interview with Alarabiya in September.
Lavrov added, “The Security Council in that resolution said that the supply of arms to Iran and from Iran would be subject to consideration by the Security Council and that on the 18th of October, 2020 this regime of sales to Iran would stop. There is no embargo and there would be no limitations whatsoever after the expiration of this timeframe established by the Security Council.”
Back in October, Lavrov’s deputy Sergey Ryabkov said that his country was not afraid of U.S. restrictions on Iran and will move forward with military cooperation with the country.
“Russia is not afraid of U.S. sanctions because it is accustomed to them,” Ryabkov said, adding, “Russia is developing multi-aspect cooperation with Iran and cooperation in the military-technical sphere will proceed depending on needs of the parties and mutual readiness to [move forward with] such cooperation in a calm fashion.”
Following the expiration of the UN arms embargo in October, Iran has moved forward with arms cooperation with various countries and it even signed deals with countries in this regard.
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