The U.S. is intentionally provoking Iran by escalating sanctions against Tehran, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Wednesday.
Ryabkov said Russia would like to avoid the situation where the Iran nuclear deal is jeopardised by such actions.
“There are no doubts that those in the United States who want to ceaselessly escalate the anti-Iran sanctions
in spite of everything, in defiance of common sense and logic of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) are rather strong.
“We think that the United States intentionally provokes the Iranian side by acting like this,” he told reporters.
According to him, Russia would like to “avoid the situation where the JCPOA is being called into question due to such maneuvers.”
He also said that Moscow reserves the right to respond in kind to the US actions against Russian diplomatic property.
“Everyone remembers illegal visits to Russian diplomatic and consular institutions, seizures of these institutions…
“We reserve the right to respond in a mirror-like manner, [but] we do not stoop to such methods and actions, because we just respect international law,” Ryabkov said.