Iran, Russia to maintain military cooperation in spite of US sanctions

Moscow(IP)- Iran and Russia will maintain bilateral military cooperation, the Islamic Republic’s ambassador to Moscow.

Iran PressEurope: "This behaviour of the United States will continue in the future, and the reason is that the US no longer enjoys the dominance of the past. It wants to say that it is the world’s number-one power, while that is not the case as there are several countries that have caught up and overtaken it," Kazem Jalali, told Sputnik in an interview.

In an effort to exert "maximum pressure" on Iran, the administration of outgoing US President Donald Trump has intensified its use of sanctions against the Islamic Republic in an effort to curb the development of its nuclear program, with the latest sanctions targeting the country’s entire financial sector.

"Russia, China, Iran and other countries subjected to sanctions should stand together and show that the forceful use of instruments of power on the international scene is an illegal act that may lead to harmful consequences for countries and peoples," Jalali added.

The latest US sanctions against Iran’s banks have been decried as a "crime against humanity" by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif earlier in October. Zarif said the banks served one of the country’s channels to pay for food and medicine. These fears were materialized when Iran was unable to procure a vaccine via the COVAX platform earlier this month.

Elsewhere, the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Russian Federation, Kazem Jalali, said that the "Zionist regime" is tied to the assassination.

Jalali added in an interview with the Russian media on Friday: "Resistance forces and the people inside Syria will both monitor the Zionist regime inside Syria and will take the necessary measures in a timely manner."

The Iranian ambassador stated: "The presence of the Zionist regime, especially in our region, is not in the interest of any country, and the basis of the actions of the" Zionist regime "are destabilizing and divisive actions."

Jalali stated: "As the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran pointed out, there is a lot of evidence that the "Zionist regime" is behind the martyrdom of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

"Iran does not see many gaps between the Democrats and the American Republicans in their policy towards Iran," he said, adding that their policy toward Iran is not very different.

 

The Iranian ambassador to Russia stated: "If the United States wants to return to the JCPOA, in order to return, it must compensate the damage caused to the Islamic Republic of Iran."

"Countries under sanctions must stand together and show that the use of force in the international arena is fundamentally an illegitimate act," he said.

In another part of the interview, he said: "In order to eliminate the dollar from trade, more than forty percent of trade between Russia and Iran is currently done in the national currency of the two countries."

Jalali stated: "The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation, as two neighbouring countries, along with the expansion of strategic relations in recent years, are trying to take advantage of each other's high trade and economic capacities to maintain the necessary mutual interest.

He added: "Relations between Iran and Russia are currently in the best condition, but nevertheless, the economic relations between Tehran and Moscow, with their high capabilities and capacities, are not at the desired level, and two sides are trying to remove obstacles and economic problems."

 Cooperation with Russia in the production of coronavirus vaccine

Jalali also said: "Cooperation with Russia in the production of the coronavirus vaccine is naturally requested by Iran and we have transferred it to the Russian authorities. Negotiations have been held in recent months."

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