Russia and Iran consider sanctions as an instrument of blatant pressure

TEHRAN, November 17. /TASS/. Russia and Iran consider sanctions as an instrument of blatant pressure, Russia’s State Duma (lower house) Speaker Sergei Naryshkin said on Monday. “Our position towards sanctions is common,” he said at a meeting with Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani. “We consider the so-called sanctions nothing more than an instrument of blatant economic and political pressure, which has nothing in common with the norms of international law and the WTO [World Trade Organisation] norms,” Naryshkin said. Russia and Iran come against “the policy of several Western countries that is the cause of crises in different countries of the planet”, he said. “We stand for complying with the norms of international law in cooperation between states and inadmissibility of the interference in internal affairs of other states,” Naryshkin said. “We understand that Russia, Iran and other countries of the region face such challenges as drug threat, terrorism and international crime. Today we’ve discussed a possibility of Iranian parliamentarians’ participation in the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly as an observer,” he said. “We believe that Iran’s participation in the CSTO PA will make the activity of this organisation more effective in strengthening regional stability and security,” Naryshkin said. “I invited with pleasure Ali Larijani to make a return visit to Russia,” he added. Read more