Russian diplomat says external pressure, sanctions no obstacle to cooperation with Iran

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova says external pressure and sanctions cannot impede her country’s cooperation with Iran, stressing that the ongoing illegal restrictions will only help boost mutual relations.

She said on Monday that Russia and Iran “are cultivating mutually beneficial cooperation” with paying no heed to the West’s opinion, Russia’s TASS news agency reported.

“External pressure and sanctions are no obstacle to that. Rather quite the opposite, the illegitimate restrictions even have the ability to help strengthen the positive tendencies of the growth in Russia-Iranian trade, which had emerged over the past years,” Zakharova added.

The Russian diplomat emphasized that Tehran and Moscow managed to increase trade cooperation by 20.2% in 2022 “and nearly reached five billion US dollars.”

“Businessmen are entering new markets and occupying product niches. Logistics and payment infrastructure are being enhanced,” she said.

“It creates conditions for the further expansion of bilateral cooperation, first and foremost, in the trade-and-economic sphere,” the spokeswoman pointed out.

She emphasized that the two countries are moving in the path of safeguarding the interests of their people.