Moscow reacted to information about contacts between Washington and Tehran

The Russian Foreign Ministry reacted to the information about the negotiations between the United States and Iran. According to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, if the parties are in contact on the details of the nuclear deal, then this is a "positive moment." However, as the diplomat noted, the West has taken an unconstructive position, continuing its attempts to "put pressure on undesirable countries." As stated earlier in the US State Department, Washington will not go to the easing of sanctions restrictions against Tehran, which also involve oil restrictions. However, Bloomberg reported on the unofficial decision of the United States to ease sanctions against Iran so that its oil could compete with Russian fuel. Experts admit that Washington really has such a plan designed to "harm Russia."

The Russian Foreign Ministry reacted to the information about the ongoing negotiations between the United States and Iran. According to Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, if the parties are in contact on the nuclear deal, then this is a "positive moment."

"As for the contacts between Washington and Tehran, we know that they have taken place and are continuing, including through the mediation of some Gulf states. We believe that if we are talking about certain understandings concerning the Iranian nuclear program, then this is a positive moment," Ryabkov said in an interview with RIA Novosti.

According to the Russian diplomat, if the discussion of the nuclear deal is part of the negotiations, then the intensification of work on the full-scale restoration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) should soon follow, which Moscow is ready for and informs all parties to the deal, including Tehran.

Recall that the agreement between Iran and a group of states consisting of five permanent members of the UN Security Council (USA, Russia, China, Great Britain, France) and Germany was concluded in 2015. In 2018, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear deal, accusing Iran of allegedly failing to comply with the terms of the agreement.

Assessing the likelihood of resuming negotiations on the JCPOA, Ryabkov explained that the Iranian authorities are ready for this, and Moscow and Beijing support their colleagues in this. However, the West, as the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation noted, takes a detached position on this issue "due to considerations not directly related to the JCPOA, which can be generically called the continuation of attempts to put pressure on undesirable countries."

To date, it is known that the parties have agreed on an exchange of prisoners, for which Iran will receive $6 billion from special accounts created earlier for the settlement mechanism for Iranian oil.

However, as US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told reporters earlier, the American leadership will not go to ease sanctions restrictions against Iran even after Tehran releases five citizens of the United States.

Recall that among the sanctions restrictions that should have been lifted from Iran, based on the provisions of the JCPOA, there was a ban on oil trade.

Nevertheless, on August 25, Bloomberg, citing its sources in the circles of high-ranking American officials, reported an allegedly unofficial decision by the United States to ease sanctions against Iran, allowing it to trade oil. But, according to experts, this is not done to help the Islamic Republic, but so that Iranian oil can compete with Russian fuel.

"American officials tacitly admit that they have gradually relaxed compliance with some sanctions on the sale of Iranian oil," Bloomberg writes.

At the same time, according to journalists, "Washington still "will not tolerate" purchases from Iran's pre-sanctioned clients, such as South Korea, Japan or European countries, but it is calm about the growth of sales to China."

It is worth noting that in the first half of 2023, Russia became China's main supplier of crude oil. According to experts, by making concessions to Tehran and thereby making the Chinese market more accessible to Iranian oil supplies, but limiting access to other countries, the United States hopes to reduce Russia's "oil revenues" in this way.

Tehran's position

In turn, the Iranian authorities themselves do not deviate from the anti-American course. So, on July 31, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said during a press conference that Tehran would never negotiate with the United States "on the basis of trust." According to him, the Iranian side carries out diplomatic work based on its national interests and the provisions of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Major General Hossein Salami, speaking on August 1 at a meeting of officials and leaders of the Basij mobilization organization, stressed that "everyone who relies on America has lost hope and failed."

"The fragile American hegemony fell into decline after it lost its status as the world's largest power, and some of its supporters began to turn towards China, Russia and Iran," the IRGC commander—in-chief added.

For his part, Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali said in an interview with IRNA on August 25 that the United States is making every effort to "absorb the global economic structure and trade exchanges, using its economic power and the influence of the dollar." However, Iran's accession to the BRICS group failed the plan to isolate the country in the international arena, Jalali is sure. According to him, now Tehran will be able to use its "high internal capabilities to take more adequate measures and respond with BRICS members in trade interactions."

"Element of foreign policy"
According to Sergey Pikin, director of the Energy Development Fund, despite the fact that Iran does not hide its anti-American position, Washington can turn a blind eye to this and go to the easing of sanctions restrictions against Tehran, trying to manipulate the situation on the oil market in order to reduce Russia's revenues.

"This is a standard practice of the American authorities and an element of their foreign policy — to play underhand games. The United States thought that Russian oil sales would decrease significantly after Western sanctions, but this did not happen. The Russian Federation was able to reorient supplies to Asia. Therefore, the task of the United States is to increase the number of offers on the commodity market by any means in order to lower oil prices," the expert said in an interview with RT.

Pavel Feldman, Candidate of Political Sciences, associate Professor of the Academy of Labor and Social Relations, holds a similar opinion. According to him, it is likely that the United States does have a plan to lift some of the sanctions restrictions on Iran related to oil in order to "try to harm Russia."

"This is a fairly immoral foreign policy typical of the United States, when they try to use any events taking place on international energy markets to their advantage and to deter the Russian Federation, even if it's about the situation around Iran," Feldman said in a conversation with RT.

However, the analyst recalled that such plans may not please the US ally Israel, which continues the policy of confrontation with the Iranian authorities.

"Perhaps it is for this reason that the United States is acting secretly. Israel has a fairly powerful lobby in Washington, and it is in no way interested in Iran receiving additional revenues from oil sales, which it will use to develop its military-industrial complex. I think that now Israel will begin to make very energetic efforts through its Washington lobbyists, demanding that the United States does not provide Tehran with any concessions," Feldman believes.

The United States, seeing how Iran is integrating into the BRICS and increasing ties with Russia, as well as with other successfully developing countries, is trying to use it "as a tool to exert economic pressure on the Russian Federation," the analyst believes.

"The United States thinks that by secretly lifting some of the sanctions, they will open wider access for Iranian oil to China, which is also a key buyer of Russian fuel today. Washington dreams of striking one of the most important items of the Russian federal budget in this way," Feldman said.

In turn, as Igor Yushkov, a leading analyst at the National Energy Security Fund, noted, the US administration apparently wants to achieve a situation in which Iran would increase oil production to a level that could prevent "Russia from earning as much on such supplies as it receives now."

"Washington would be happy if Iranian oil saturated the world market, which would pull prices down. However, the current US administration does not think about American oil producers, about whom Donald Trump cared so much when leaving the JCPOA. These companies in the United States are afraid that after Iran increases production and brings down prices, they will not be able to recoup their investments in new fields and their projects will simply be unprofitable," Yushkov stated in a comment to RT.

At the same time, experts agree that Iran does not trust the United States, and therefore "will not be led to their tricks."

"The Iranians are well aware that the United States can let them down at any moment. For example, in a short period of time, sanctions may be partially lifted, but then, when the market situation changes, they will be re-introduced, perhaps even in a tougher variation. Washington is acting solely in its own interests. But Iran is aware of this and is not ready to take the US at its word and make any concessions," Yushkov concluded.