Russia: Lavrov criticises US ‘counterproductive’ approach to Iran

W/S Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry entering room, Moscow
SOT, Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister (Russian): "We welcomed the constructive role of Egypt in the search for ways to restore Palestinian unity, expressed concern about the attempts of the United States advance their secretly developed ideas to settle Middle East crisis, which imply a rejection of the principle of a two-state solution to the Palestinian problem, a departure from the international legal framework for settlement, including UN resolutions, the Madrid principles, the Arab peace initiative. Russia and Egypt reaffirmed their commitment to these basic documents."
W/S Lavrov, Shoukry
SOT, Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister (Russian): "We are coming from the fact that Israel and the US are concerned with Iran mostly not only in relation to Syria, but also in this region in general, perhaps in a much wider geographical area. We believe that such an approach is counterproductive - to dedicate all your political agenda in a particular region to a fight against one state, to dedicate yourself to the isolation of this state, to accuse this state of all manner of sins, without resorting to investigation of certain incidents. It is counterproductive. As I said, we are in favour of a dialogue between the Arab states and Iran, including the issues of building confidence and ensuring security in the Gulf region. We consider it very, very dangerous how the situation is developing both in this part of the region and within Syria itself. It is bad that attempts are being made to transform the territory of Syria into an arena of confrontation between Israel and Iran, between Sunnis and Shiites. This only exacerbates the crisis." *MULTIPLE SHOTS AT SOURCE*
M/S Journalist asking question
SOT, Sameh Shoukry, Egyptian Foreign Minister (Arabic): "As for the forum on the US economic proposal in the interests of reaching a final political solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, I want to say that the Arab side does not block this forum. There are several influential Arab countries that are participating in this forum. With regard to the participation of Egypt, I can say that our country works with different formats and with all parties that have an impact on the Palestinian problem, and we should also take into account our clear support in supporting our Palestinian brothers. Therefore, this does not prevent us from having a dialogue with different countries, influential countries, in order to get to know various options of political and economic decisions and to reasonably evaluate these proposals. In the end, we believe that a final decision on these issues should be made by the main stakeholders, namely the Palestinian leadership. The aim of presence of Egypt is to assess these proposals, as well as continue contact with all influential and interested parties. We believe that the final decision will be made by the Palestinian leadership, based on their own interests." *MULTIPLE SHOTS AT SOURCE*
W/S Lavrov, Shoukry leaving
SCRIPT
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov heavily criticised what he called the United States’ counterproductive approach to Iran during a press conference with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukri in Moscow on Monday.
“To dedicate all your political agenda in a particular region to a fight against one state, to dedicate yourself to the isolation of this state, to accuse this state of all manner of sins, without resorting to investigation of certain incidents. It is counterproductive,” he said, adding that he considers it “very, very dangerous” how the situation is developing in the region.
Lavrov called for “dialogue between the Arab states and Iran, including the issues of building confidence and ensuring security in the Gulf region.”
Tensions have been escalating after Iran announced in May it was partially withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plane of Action (JCPOA) also known as the Iran nuclear deal after US unilaterally left the deal in 2018, imposing new sanctions on Iran.
The Russian foreign minister also welcomed Egypt’s “constructive” in the Palestinian crisis, while expressive concern for “attempts of the United States to advance their secretly developed ideas to settle the Middle East crisis, which imply a rejection of the principle of a two-state solution to the Palestinian problem.”