Russia Warns UN Sanctions Experts not to Sabotage Iran’s Deal
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Russia UN envoy criticized the recent report by a panel of UN sanctions experts and called on the panel not to sabotage the final phase of the negotiations between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany.
The Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin made the remarks during the Wednesday meeting of the UNSC and announced that the new phase of the nuclear talks is scheduled to run from July 2 to July 15 in Vienna, calling it “a two-week marathon session”.
‘‘They (UN sanctions experts) should not interfere in this extremely sensitive process. And in particular it is unacceptable to pre-judge its outcome,’’ said Churkin.
The panel had urged countries to clarify the status of UN sanctions in the event of a deal with Iran that would see them gradually eased in exchange for curbs on Iranian nuclear activities. It said some states were confused about the status of sanctions after a preliminary deal agreed last year.
The Russian UN envoy further termed the previous round of negotiations held June 16 to 20 as “very useful”, confirming the overall readiness to continue cooperating in a constructive vein.
As a July 20 deadline for a long-term deal between Iran and the six world powers approaches, the Russian envoy also predicted that such readiness for cooperation would continue in the talks beginning next week.
The next round of nuclear negotiations starts in less than a week in Vienna, as the EU Foreign Policy Chief’s spokesman Michael Mann has twitted that the political directors of the Group 5+1 have already started their meeting with Catherine Ashton in Vienna.