Russia envoy: Language of ultimatum doesn’t work with authorities of Iran

A senior Russian diplomat has criticized the European Union's diplomatic approach to Iran, emphasizing that the language of "ultimatum" does not work with the Iranian authorities.

Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov made the remarks in a Monday Twitter post in response to an earlier tweet by the EU foreign policy chief, Joseph Borrell, following the latter's phone conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

Borrell said he had called on Iran, among other things, to urgently cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and "stop support to Russia's war" against Ukraine.

Referring to Borrell's tweet, the Russian envoy said the EU diplomacy nowadays sounds like an ultimatum.

"Brussels doesn’t understand that such language doesn’t work with the authorities of Iran," tweeted Ulyanov, who also heads Russia's delegation to the talks aimed at reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

There is no alternative to Iran nuclear deal, EU’s Borrell says

I still believe that when it comes to nuclear non-proliferation, there is no alternative to the JCPOA, says EU’s Josep Borrell.

Iran and the IAEA are currently in a dispute triggered by the agency’s Israeli-influenced accusations, which were leveled against Tehran’s peaceful nuclear activities just as the Islamic Republic and other parties to the deal appeared close to an agreement on reviving the JCPOA.

Iran says an agreement on the revival of the nuclear deal hinges on the settlement of safeguards issues between Tehran and the IAEA, and that without settling those issues, reviving the 2015 deal makes no sense.

The negotiations to salvage the JCPOA have been at a standstill since August 2022 due to Washington’s insistence on its hard-nosed position of not removing all the sanctions that were imposed on the Islamic Republic by the former US administration.

Iran maintains it is necessary for the other side to offer some guarantees that they will remain committed to any agreement that is reached.

As for the war in Ukraine, Iran has frequently announced that it opposes continuation of the war between Moscow and Kiev, noting that it would spare no effort to help end the conflict.

Iran says opposes continuation of Ukraine war, strives for ceasefire

Iran’s foreign minister says his country opposes the continuation of the war in Ukraine and strives for a ceasefire between the warring sides.

The country has on multiple occasions rejected in the strongest terms the Western claims of delivery of weapons and drones to Russia to be used against Ukraine. Tehran says it has had long-term defense cooperation with Moscow and pursues a resolution of the conflict through dialog and diplomacy.

In a phone call with his Bulgarian counterpart, Nikolay Milov, last November, Amir-Abdollahian dismissed Western allegations about Tehran providing drones to Moscow, adding, “According to Security Council Resolution 2231, we do not have a ban on the export and import of weapons, but we have not given any weapons to Russia to use in the Ukraine war.”

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