Lifting arms embargo from Iran to require serious diplomatic efforts - Russian deputy foreign minister

MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. Lifting arms embargo from Iran will require serious diplomatic efforts, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Monday. "There is a number of disputed aspects that will require serious diplomatic efforts and political decisions," Ryabkov said. "First of all, these are the prospects and conditions of lifting the existing arms embargo against Iran," the deputy foreign minister noted. The Russian Federation demands lifting the arms embargo from Tehran as the first step after striking a deal on Iran’s nuclear program, Ryabkov stressed. Re-imposing sanctions on Iran in case of nuclear deal disruption is possible only by a UN Security Council resolution, Ryabkov said. "Questions remain about mechanisms of re-imposing the existing sanctions and making decisions in this sphere, if for some reason the agreement is disrupted," Ryabkov said. "The possible re-imposition of sanctions is unacceptable with some automatic measures, it should be possible only by a UN Security Council resolution," he noted. "We advocated during the whole negotiations process - and will continue to do so - the impermissibility of violating international law, role and authority of the UN Security Council, practice of functioning regimes of nuclear non-proliferation and export control, as well as monitoring activities of the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency]," the deputy foreign minister added. Sanctions against Iran From 2006, the UN Security Council has adopted eight resolutions on Iran’s nuclear program. The resolutions imposed arms and nuclear technologies embargo on Tehran, prohibited activities connected to developing ballistic missiles, and targeted individuals and organizations by freezing assets and restricting travel. Iran has repeatedly demanded the cancellation of these and other sanctions imposed unilaterally by the US and other countries. Agreement on Iran’s nuclear program On April 2, Iran and P5+1 group (Russia, US, UK, China, France and Germany) reached a breakthrough agreement in Switzerland’s Lausanne on restricting Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for gradual lifting of sanctions. The deadline for coordinating the final agreement is June 30. According to the deal, Iran will not enrich uranium no higher than to 3.67 percent for the next 15 years. Tehran will also cut its stockpile of low-enriched uranium from around 10 tons to 300 kilograms. Iran agreed not to set up new facilities for uranium enrichment in the next 15 years, and vowed not to reprocess spent nuclear fuel and conduct research in this sphere. Read more