Russia plans to defy the renewed U.S. sanctions on Iran and pursue “a number of large-scale projects” with that country, a Russian diplomat said Thursday.
“For us, Iran is a friendly country,” said Levan Dzhagaryan, the Russian ambassador to the regime.
Dzhagaryan cited Iran’s only nuclear power plant as one of the projects they would continue to support. “Despite threats from the U.S., today I see no obstacles for implementing these projects,” he said, according to TASS, a state-run media outlet.
The Iran deal was one of the few acknowledged points of disagreement between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin during their Monday summit in Helsinki, Finland. Trump withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and is renewing sanctions in an attempt to isolate the regime and deprive it of revenue that the U.S. believes finances regional aggression.
“This is a big state pursuing an independent foreign policy,” Dzhagaryan said. “It is only possible to work with the Iranians through persuasion, whereas pressure is counterproductive.”
That foreign policy includes a military partnership with Russia to help Syrian dictator Bashar Assad win a civil war that could decide whether Russia retains key military bases and Iran holds strategic territory that expands the regime’s access to terrorist proxies in Lebanon.
Dzhagaryan defended Iran’s role in Syria, though he acknowledged implicitly that the play for an Iranian land bridge through the country increases the risk of violence between Iran and Israel.
“Just like the Russian military, the Iranians are there at the invitation of the legitimate Syrian government and are participating in the operation to eradicate terrorists,” he said. “Naturally, we are concerned about a possible military standoff between Iranian and Israeli forces in Syria and are doing the best we can to prevent that.”
