MUSCAT, November 11. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov believes that the pattern of suspension and eventual cancellation of sanctions against Iran must suit all participants in the negotiations over the Iranian nuclear program.
“The sanctions and their future, the outlook for lifting them, remain almost the central issue at these negotiations,” Ryabkov told the media. “As we understand, much time was devoted to this theme at the bilateral meetings that the Iranians were holding with their counterparts from the United States and European Union at the full-scale meeting. Accordingly, that issue enjoyed top priority at the negotiations.”
“We believe that a future pattern making possible a suspension and, eventually, elimination of sanctions must suit all,” Ryabkov said. “I must point out that this is an opinion of ours. This does not mean it is acceptable to all. What I am saying is that in our opinion this is the sole possible option.”
“As for the unilateral sanctions that sill remain in relation to Iran and operate under the well-known decisions made in Washington and the European capitals, we have always said and are still saying that these sanctions are devoid of a legal basis and must be eliminated,” Ryabkov said. “But this position of ours, although it meets with respect from all participants in the negotiations, regrettably it does not change the realities, the way the suspension and, as we hope, the abolition of sanctions will be arranged, in what sequence, what will follow what, if the unilateral sanctions or the UN Security Council sanctions will be the first to go. All this constitutes the backbone of negotiations in this aspect.”
“At this point it is hard to say what will come of it all. Each step in this sphere requires great efforts. Decisions must be made at a very high political level in the corresponding capitals for the sake of finding a compromise here,” Ryabkov said. “We have our own ideas. We have been trying to contribute to the common success, precisely the way we have been acting along other lines, although it is pretty clear that we in this sense are not omnipotent and we cannot propose some magic solution that would dawn upon us all. This is not the goal.”
Lastly, Ryabkov said, negotiations were underway on a whole range of issues and there was “the most complicated package where one problem cannot be resolved separately from others.”
“This is the reason why I am using phrases that do not concern the gist of the matter. We are at a very delicate stage, and I would not like to create an information background that would distract us from the main task,” Ryabkov said.
Source: TASS
