Russia
rebuffs US threat over Iran oil deal
A
Russian deputy foreign minister has rebuffed US warnings against
Russia’s planned oil deal with Iran, saying Moscow will not be
intimidated by such threats.
9
April, 2014
An
increase in Russo-Iranian trade ties is a "natural process that
doesn't involve any elements of political or economic challenge to
anyone,” said Sergei Ryabkov on Wednesday.
Under
the deal, which is yet to be finalized, Russia will buy 500,000
barrels of Iranian oil per day in return for selling goods to Iran.
On
Tuesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said that Washington could
impose sanctions if Russia and Iran move forward with the oil deal.
But
Ryabkov stressed Russia’s determination to develop its ties with
Iran and rejected the US threat to impose sanctions.
"We
don't think that any unilateral US sanctions, no matter whom they
target, are legitimate, and we reject such a stance," he said.
Iran
and Russia signed two deals for boosting bilateral trade in February
2013. Tehran and Moscow have been using the rial and the ruble in
their trade exchanges over the past two years, dropping the US
dollar.
Earlier
this month, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said the
Islamic Republic is determined to raise the volume of its “economic
transactions” with Russia under long-term deals.
The
possible energy barter deal between Iran and Russia has provoked an
angry reaction from some US senators, who have threatened to
reinstate the anti-Iran sanctions eased under an interim nuclear deal
signed between Tehran and the six world powers -- the United States,
France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany -- last November.
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