Iran Press/ Europe: Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov commented on new round of the US sanctions against Iran on Tuesday and said: "As for the US measures against Iran, they are absolutely illegitimate. They are taken as a flagrant violation of the UN Security Council's decision."
"Now, within a joint group of participants of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), mechanisms are being worked out that will make it possible to continue implementing the provisions of this document, primarily with regard to economic ties with Iran and without US participation," Lavrov said after meeting his Spanish counterpart Josep Borrell in Madrid, according to Tass News Agency.
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Meanwhile the minister stressed that this will not be an easy task.
He added: "You see; what unacceptable methods have already been used to put pressure on SWIFT system operators; but experts are working intensively on this issue. They have a fairly stable understanding that this is possible and that such measures will be found."
On Monday, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) announced that the access of several banks in Iran to its messaging system had been suspended.
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In this regard, head of Iran’s Central Bank Abdolnaser Hemmati said that the country's banks will be able to use alternative settlement options after SWIFT refused to service their accounts due to US sanctions.
On May 8, US President Donald Trump declared Washington’s withdrawal from the JCPOA, and the first part of the US sanctions was relaunched overnight into August 7. These restrictive measures covered Iran’s car building industry and the trading of gold and other metals. The second round of sanctions, including against the Iranian oil industry, came into effect on November 5.
US secretary of state Mike Pompeo admitted that Washington had failed to get the main buyers of Iranian oil to tag along, and had to grant temporary waivers to China, India, South Korea, Turkey, Italy, Greece, Japan and Taiwan.
Tehran said on Tuesday it had so far been able to sell as much oil as it needs despite US pressure, but urged European countries that oppose the sanctions to do more to shield Iran. 101/207
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