Belarus to Host Russia’s Oreshnik in Response to US Missiles in Germany
Sputnik – December 7, 2024
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to deploy the latest Russian weapons, including the Oreshnik system, on Belarusian soil on Friday following a meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State.
“The decision to deploy the Oreshnik system on the territory of the Republic of Belarus was made in response to the actions taken by the United States and Germany regarding the deployment of intermediate-range missiles in Europe. The Americans and Germans have repeatedly stated this before,” the Belarusian Ministry of Defense’s Telegram channel quoted
Here are some official statements of the sides at the time.
- Washington and Berlin: “The US will begin episodic deployments of the long-range firing capabilities of its multi-domain task force in Germany in 2026. These will include SM-6, Tomahawk, and developmental hypersonic weapons, which have significantly longer range than current land-based fires in Europe.”
- US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan: “What we are deploying to Germany is a defensive capability, like many other defensive capabilities we’ve deployed across the alliance, across the decades.”
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz: This is a “very good decision” which is “exactly in line” with the German government’s security strategy. “The decision has been in the works for a long time and is not a real surprise for anyone involved in security and peace policy.”
- German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius: Germany needs a longer-term plan for investment in “appropriate long-range defense systems” to protect itself and Europe.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov: The move is “a very serious threat” to Russia, which would “take thoughtful, coordinated and effective measures to contain NATO.”
- Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov: “Without nerves and emotions, we will develop, first of all, a military response” to the move, which is “just another link in the chain of a course of escalation”.
In response, the Russian leader agreed, stating that the deployment of Oreshnik in Belarus was possible in the second half of 2025.
Prospective German chancellor calls for end to arming Kiev
Alice Weidel speaks to reporters at an AfD convention in Berlin, Germany, December 7, 2024 © Getty Images / Maryam Majd
RT | December 7, 2024
The co-leader of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Alice Weidel, has said that she will oppose any arms supplies to Ukraine if she succeeds Olaf Scholz as the country’s chancellor.
AfD nominated Weidel as its candidate for the post on Saturday, in the party’s first bid for the chancellery in its 11-year history. It has steadily risen in popularity since its founding in 2013, and is currently Germany’s second-strongest political force.
Speaking to reporters after the nomination, Weidel promised to introduce drastic immigration restrictions, to roll back Scholz’ climate policies, and to cut off military aid to Ukraine.
”We want peace in Ukraine,” the 45-year-old said. “We do not want any arms supplies, we do not want any tanks, we do not want any missiles. We do not want Taurus for Ukraine, which would make Germany a party to the war,” she added, referring to a type of German-made cruise missile that would require German military personnel to be deployed to Ukraine to operate.
The AfD, Weidel declared, is a “peace party.”
Scholz, along with his Green and Free Democrat coalition partners, overturned decades of foreign-policy pacifism in 2022 when they decided to supply weapons to the Ukrainian military. Since then, Berlin has sent Kiev almost €17 billion ($17.9 billion) in military, economic, and humanitarian aid, according to government figures. Although initially reluctant to supply heavy weapons, Scholz has authorized the transfer to Ukraine of tanks, artillery guns, anti-air missiles, and armored vehicles.
Before 2022, Germany relied on Russia for 55% of its supply of natural gas. Scholz’ decision to halt Russian energy imports, coupled with his government’s green policies, has led to soaring electricity costs, forcing some of the country’s manufacturing giants – including Volkswagen and BASF – to close plants and lay off workers.
Amid economic decline and disputes within his coalition, the Scholz government collapsed last month. The chancellor is expected to lose a confidence vote in parliament later this month, after which a snap election will likely be held in late February. His center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) is currently polling at around 15%, with AfD at 18% and the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) at 32%.
Weidel has little chance of winning the chancellery. Even if the AfD were to emerge as the largest party in February, all of Germany’s other mainstream parties have ruled out entering a coalition with the right-wingers. After a string of regional election wins this year, 113 members of the 733-member Bundestag put forth a motion last month to ban the AfD as a “Nazi party” whose beliefs clash with the German constitution. Most of the lawmakers behind the proposal were Greens, joined by 31 members of the SPD and just six from the CDU.
Germany is preparing for ‘possible outbreak of world war,’ says influential Hungarian professor
Remix News | December 5, 2024
The German army is preparing companies operating in the country for a possible outbreak of world war, said Tamás Kovács, head of the Department of Law Enforcement Theory and History at the National University of Public Service (NKE).
As a part of this effort, the government has begun to assess German industry, which could be a cautious and necessary step, but the timing suggests that the German government is preparing for the war to escalate and become even more brutal.
“The fact that these surveys have begun can be interpreted as a sign of war preparations on the part of Germany,” Kovács told Hungarian news outlet Hirado.hu. “The German army is preparing companies operating in the country for a possible outbreak of world war.”
Hirado notes that German media has reported that the country has begun a census of bunkers and fortified buildings that could serve as shelters in the event of a war, as well as investigating how industry would hold up in wartime. There were at one time 2,000 bunkers and shelters in Germany, but now only 500 exist.
“The German government wants to be aware of what the industry and the economy are capable of: what they can produce, how quickly they can produce it, and of course how much energy they need. There may therefore be a number of practical considerations behind the fact that they have started to assess German industry,” said Kovács.
“These surveys could be cautious, necessary steps, as it is not a problem in itself if a country is aware of its own resources and their limitations, not least the number of potential shelters and their condition. The fact that all this is happening at exactly this time unfortunately predicts, at least in my reading, that the German and Swedish governments are really preparing for this war to escalate.”
The Hungarian expert believes that claims the war will wind down under Trump may not unfold as predicted and that the war will actually expand.
“I will be even rougher. It is questionable what will happen if the relationship between the EU and Russia deteriorates further and becomes so frosty that there will be no communication between the two parties,” said the head of the NKE department.
The professor also deals with the question of how Germany’s massively growing immigrant population would respond to war conditions. When asked what the government would do in a war situation with the recent influx of migrants who are not very motivated in terms of everyday work or national defense, Tamás Kovács said: “It is inconceivable what would motivate these people in a war situation, and especially how. I’m almost certain that their first thought wouldn’t be, ‘Let’s join the German army and defend the Germany that actually took us in.’”
Regarding the upcoming German elections and a possible turnaround, he said: It is questionable whether the new German government will continue Scholz’s policies or return to historical roots and strive for some kind of consolidated relationship with Russia. Although it is also questionable whether the Russians would like to have close relations with Germany after the events of recent years, at least in the short term, he stressed.
“It is a fact that the Hungarian economy is very dependent on the German one; if there are problems in the German economy, the Hungarian economy will also feel it. Obviously, German capital investments and economic influence are generally strong in the region, so the entire region will feel it if the German economy is not doing well. However, if peace were to suddenly break out, or at least a ceasefire were to be signed by the two sides, that would greatly improve economic prospects,” said Kovács regarding the expected domestic and regional effects of the war crisis.
Why Biden Allowed Ukraine to Fire US missiles into Russia
By Salman Rafi Sheikh – New Eastern Outlook – December 5, 2024
Washington’s (and London’s) decision to allow Ukraine to fire their missiles into Russia is a clear escalation, but the timing explains most of the puzzle underlying this decision.
It is not just Biden being reckless. It is not simply madness, either. It is politics with a touch of global geopolitics.
The Biden administration, having lost both presidential and congressional elections to the Republicans, appears to be following a scorched-earth policy. Before Trump is sworn in, and before he can move towards a negotiated resolution of the Russia-Ukraine (NATO) military conflict in 2025, the outgoing administration seems willing to make issues much more complicated – and deadly – than they currently are. At the heart of these calculated escalations is the American “deep state” unhappy with Trump’s success and the prospects of him pulling NATO back from Ukraine, thus undoing American hegemony. Trump claimed, during his campaign, that he will end wars. The American “deep state” does not want to let him do this – at least, not easily.
The Timing
For a long time, the Biden administration resisted allowing Ukraine to fire US missiles into Russian territory. This firing represents a “new phase” in the ongoing conflict for Moscow. There is potentially no other way for Moscow to see things. A pro-Democrats response is that the decision was motivated by the Biden administration’s desire to strengthen Ukraine’s position vis-à-vis Russia in the wake of upcoming possible negotiations. However, if this truly was the main intention, why did the Biden administration not reach the same conclusion during the peak time of the presidency, i.e., a year earlier, for instance? The Biden administration could have done the same escalation, hoping that this would push Russia to come to the negotiating table. Except, the Biden administration did not make such a decision for one chief reason.
They understood Moscow’s response would be deadlier, which would escalate the war more than Washington and NATO could handle. A deadly escalation, the Biden administration maintained, could cost them the elections. Now that they have already lost the elections – and there is nothing they can do about it now – they are escalating the war deliberately to scuttle the Trump administration. If the war escalates, it will make it harder for the Trump administration to negotiate with Russia. It will also make it harder for the Trump administration to negotiate with US allies in Europe as well. The more complicated the issue becomes, the more time it will take to find a resolution. Overall, this will give the Democrats a political opportunity to shift the blame to the Trump administration for its failure to quickly end conflicts. For the Democrats, this could be one of the key points they could raise in the midterm elections.
A key official of the Biden administration indirectly acknowledged the politics driving the decision. Matthew Miller, State Department spokesperson, defended the decision during a press briefing saying that the “American people elected Joe Biden to a four-year term, not to a term of three years and 10 months, and we will use every day of our term to pursue the foreign policy interests that, we believe, are in the interests of the American people.” One caveat is that the only interest that matters here is that of the Democrats.
The Reactions
The Trump administration understands this politics. In a post on X, Donald Trump Jr said the change was aimed at getting “World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives”. Trump’s pick for national security adviser, US Representative Mike Waltz, called it “another step up the escalation ladder … and nobody knows where this is going,” he said on Fox News. Former Trump cabinet member Richard Grenell also accused Biden of moving to “escalate the war in Ukraine during the transition period”. “This is as if he is launching a whole new war. Everything has changed now. All previous calculations are null and void,” he added.
This reaction makes sense because Ukraine has received only a few dozen of the ATACMS systems. If the Biden administration really wanted to strengthen Ukraine’s position, a first step would have been to ensure sufficient supplies of this system. If Ukraine is likely to fire up its entire stockpile too quickly to make any meaningful impact, the only sense this escalation makes is that it makes a negotiated end of the conflict much more complicated. Anymore escalation before Trump assumes control in January – and this escalation is very much possible – means the conflict will continue to rage in the months to come.
The End Game
Most people understand that the Trump administration would bring the conflict to an end. For one thing, Trump does not intend to use military conflicts to advance US foreign policy interests. Secondly, Trump has the “America First” policy at the heart of his politics. People who understand how misfit military conflicts are within the Trump camp include not only the Democrats but also Ukraine’s own president, who went on record two weeks ago to say that the conflict will end “sooner” now that Trump has won.
For the anti-Russia camp within the American “deep state”, this expectation is deeply unsettling. It would mean NATO will not be able to expand into Europe any further. NATO’s failure will create fresh openings for European states to chart their own foreign policy courses, including relations with Russia. In fact, this is already happening. When the German chancellor recently spoke with the Russian President, he did not do so to merely talk about the possibility of ending the conflict, but also to get a sense of their post-conflict bilateral relations. More importantly, Germany initiated the call. There is, thus, a possibility of Germany resuming gas supplies from Russia. Indeed, both leaders discussed the possibility of “cooperation” on energy trade.
In Washington, the fear is that this one call is going to encourage other European leaders to pick up their phones and talk to Vladimir Putin. It means Washington will lose control of the situation. These people in Washington do not want to let that happen; hence, a key geopolitical reason to escalate the conflict is to scuttle the end gam, which is very much on the horizon already.
Salman Rafi Sheikh is a research analyst of International Relations and Pakistan’s foreign and domestic affairs.
Cringe Diplomacy? Germany’s FM Unleashes Tirade of Threats & Accusations During China Trip
By Svetlana Ekimenko – Sputnik – 03.12.2024
During her September 2023 US tour, the top diplomat reaffirmed Berlin’s intent to back the Kiev regime “as long as it takes,” as she stated. Moreover, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock stirred up some controversy when she called Chinese President Xi Jinping a “dictator” in an interview.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrived in China for discussions with her counterpart, Wang Yi, on December 2-3, wielding anything but the tools of diplomacy.
Baerbock plunged into a tirade of accusations, claiming that Russia was “destroying our European peace order” and that “increasing Chinese support” for Russia “has an impact on our relations,” according to a readout by the German foreign ministry.
“China is going against our core European interests by providing economic and military aid to Russia,” said Baerbock, and “this is not in China’s interests,” she argued.
Germany’s top diplomat, who made no bones about declaring that European countries were waging a war against Russia in 2023, urging that more weapons be sent to Ukraine, now claimed she was in China to advocate “a just peace process.”
Upon finishing her rant regarding NATO’s proxy war in Ukraine, security sprang into action and escorted members of the German media out of the room, reported Handelsblatt. There was also no joint press statement with her counterpart this time.
Striking a completely different tone, Wang Yi countered by saying that China and Germany should “overcome interference, remove obstacles […] and abandon the old mindset of cold war and confrontation.”
Beijing has consistently condemned the Western sanctions against Russia, calling for an end to these illegal measures. It has emphasized that its trade with Russia is conducted transparently and is “consistent with WTO rules and market principles.”
President Vladimir Putin has described the trust-based relationship between Russia and China as one of the key factors contributing to international stability.
Rheinmetall CEO Vows Increase of German Military Spending on Ukraine to $10.5Bln
Sputnik – 03.12.2024
BERLIN – Germany should spend 10 billion euros ($10.5 billion) from its state budget annually on military aid to Ukraine, otherwise there is a risk of suspension of the Rheinmetall ammunition plant, the company’s CEO, Armin Papperger, said in an interview.
In July, even before the government crisis, the German cabinet announced that the German government, as part of the draft budget for 2025, intended to halve aid to Ukraine to 4 billion euros from 8 billion euros.
According to Papperger, Germany should lay down a much larger budget for military support for Kiev, which will exceed 8 billion in annual expenditures.
“At least ten billion must be approved as further aid,” he said.
In this context, Papperger expressed concern that he would not be able to maintain the full capacity of the new enterprise in the community of Unterlues in Lower Saxony, where, among other things, ammunition for Ukraine is produced, without state funding — if Rheinmetall does not order raw materials in advance, the plant may shut down in a year or a year and a half, he noted.
The head of Rheinmetall also said that an additional 350-400 billion euros would be needed to modernize the Bundeswehr.
Earlier, the concern reported an increase in sales in the first half of the year, increasing to 3.8 billion euros, which is 33% higher than the same figure last year. This is due, among other things, to arms supplies to Ukraine, as stated in a Rheinmetall press release.
In August, German media reported that Berlin was forced to reduce military aid to Ukraine, since, according to the current budget planning of the German government, new funds were no longer allocated for these purposes. It was specified that already approved deliveries would still be carried out, but additional requests from the German Defense Ministry would no longer have to be approved, according to the order of the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who later assured that Germany would remain the largest donor of aid to Ukraine in Europe.
In November, Germany faced a serious government crisis after Finance Minister Christian Lindner was fired at the insistence of Scholz. Among the reasons for this decision, he named the latter’s reluctance to approve both an increase in spending on supporting Ukraine and investing in the future of Germany as part of the state budget planning.
German opposition to demand EU exit – media
RT | November 29, 2024
Alternative for Germany (AfD) – the third largest opposition party in the national parliament – intends to take the country out of the EU if it wins the upcoming election, several media outlets reported on Friday, citing the party’s newly drafted election manifesto.
AfD has confirmed that the document is “ready” but has not released it to the public. The party also wants Germany to ditch the euro, and return to a “stable national currency,” media outlets including Die Zeit and Der Spiegel have claimed.
“We believe that Germany’s exit from the European Union and the establishment of a new European community are necessary,” the 85-page-long manifesto reportedly says.
The EU in its current form should be replaced by the “Economic and Interest Community” following a certain transition period that should be “negotiated… with both the old EU partner states and new interested parties,” media have cited the document as saying, adding that the AfD believes the EU is trying to become a “superstate.”
On its website, the party lists Germany’s exit from the EU as part of its political agenda and advocates a “Europe of nations” concept, adding that “irrevocable renunciation of sovereignty in favor of an ‘ever closer’ European Union is incompatible” with this vision.
The party is also seeking to restore trade ties with Russia, which were disrupted by EU sanctions imposed after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. The AfD text highlights Russia’s importance as a supplier of cheap natural gas for German industry, according to national media.
The document also calls for sanctions on Russia to be lifted and the Nord Stream gas pipelines to be repaired, according to Die Zeit. Nord Stream 1 delivered Russian gas to Germany before it was blown up in September 2022, along with Nord Stream 2.
The party also apparently wants Germany to exit the Paris Climate Agreement and introduce abortion restrictions.
AfD has neither confirmed nor denied the reports about its election program, but said that the document was sent to delegates of the federal party conference, scheduled for mid-January.
The document’s lead author, Professor Ingo Hahn, has described it as a “convincing work that not only names the pressing problems of our country, but also shows clear solutions that will lead Germany out of the current misery.”
Germany could hold an early parliamentary vote as soon as February 23 following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party government coalition earlier this month. If Scholz’s now-minority cabinet loses a confidence vote in mid-December, the country will head into a snap election.
AfD became the fifth largest faction in the Bundestag following the 2021 parliamentary election, in which it gained more than 10% of the vote.
Berlin confirms sanctions against Russian news crew
RT | November 28, 2024
A news crew working for Russia’s public broadcaster Channel 1 has been expelled from Germany due to sanctions arising from the Ukraine conflict, local authorities in Berlin confirmed on Wednesday evening.
Officials have told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper that correspondent Ivan Blagoy and cameraman Dmitry Volkov have been denied residency permits.
According to the immigration office for the state of Berlin, the decision to punish the news crew was taken because Channel 1’s co-owner, National Media Group, has been blacklisted under the EU’s ninth sanctions package.
The permits were, therefore, denied under a law applying to foreigners who “impair or endanger the interests” of Germany, Berliner Zeitung said. Overall, five people were targeted under anti-Russia sanctions in Berlin “in recent months,” according to the newspaper.
Channel 1 reported on Wednesday morning that the German authorities had ordered the closure of its bureau in the EU country’s capital. The German Foreign Ministry quickly rejected these claims as “false,” insisting that “Russian journalists can, as before, broadcast freely and unhindered in Germany.”
The broadcaster said the journalists were, in fact, singled out because of their employer. “Yes, our press credentials have not been revoked. However, we were barred from being physically present in the country, which means we were effectively barred from working in accordance with our credentials,” Blagoy said in his news report.
According to the journalist, he received a notice from the Berlin authorities claiming that Channel 1 is spreading “propaganda and disinformation” about the conflict in Ukraine and poses “a significant and direct threat to public order and security of Germany and the European Union.”
Blagoy has denied the allegations, saying his reporting has been truthful. The broadcaster similarly described the expulsion of its staff as “punishment for truth and professionalism.”
Russia has responded in kind, expelling correspondent for Germany’s state broadcaster ARD, Frank Aischmann, and technical employee Sven Feller. ARD Foreign Coordinator Joerg Schoenenborn condemned the decision, accusing Moscow of “intimidation and restrictions” on the channel’s reporting.
The EU has banned multiple Russian news organizations since 2022, citing “disinformation.” Russia has responded by blacklisting dozens Western media outlets.
Germany Tightens Grip on Online Speech as Vice Chancellor Defends Arrest of Online Critic
By Didi Rankovic | Reclaim The Net | November 26, 2024
Germany’s authorities continue to double down on their crusade against all manner of free speech on the internet: from the right of citizens to criticize them, to satirical content like memes.
Instead of considering apologizing to a pensioner whose home was recently raided by law enforcement for an online post unflattering of his person, German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck is now urging even stricter regulation of social media.
And it’s clear what kind of regulation Habeck – who was referred to as “an idiot” in the post that got 64-year-old Stefan Niehoff in hot water with the prosecution – wants to see more of.
The Green Party politician cited the EU’s controversial, sweeping censorship law, the Digital Services Act (DSA), as a tool that could be used to “regulate” algorithms used by social media.
According to the German press, Habeck told the ARD broadcaster not only that he wouldn’t apologize but went on to try to explain – or, justify – why he filed a criminal complaint against the pensioner in the first place.
Habeck suggested that being called an “idiot” was just the straw that broke the camel’s back; his grievance supposedly originates from a previous “racist” post by Niehoff.
That’s not what the prosecutor said when they sent the police to the man’s home, however; only the post branding the high-ranked official as “idiot” was mentioned as the reason for the search – as it was allegedly intended “to defame Robert Habeck in general and to make his work as a member of the federal government more difficult.”
In Germany, those found guilty of such offenses can end up in prison for up to three years, or be forced to pay a fine.
Habeck mentioning a previous “racist” post, meanwhile, stems from the prosecution saying the pensioner “could be suspected of incitement to hatred” (but this was not the reason for sending the police to Niehoff’s home).
Germany expels Russian journalists
RT | November 27, 2024
The German government has ordered the closure of the Russian public broadcaster Channel 1’s bureau in Berlin and told its staff to leave the country by early December.
According to the broadcaster, correspondent Ivan Blagoy and cameraman Dmitry Volkov received official notification on Tuesday that they would be expelled, with German authorities citing national security concerns.
The move, which comes amid rising tensions between Europe’s two most powerful states, has sparked outrage, with the network calling it the latest attempt to silence independent reporting in the EU.
“The activities of Channel One pose a threat to public order and security in Germany and the EU,” the authorities reportedly stated, adding that the network’s content continues to influence Russian-speaking audiences in Germany despite its website being blocked.
Channel One, which is funded by the Russian government, has long been accused in the West of spreading pro-Kremlin narratives. The expulsion of its journalists follows a report by Blagoy on the detention of German citizen Nikolai Gaiduk, arrested by Russian security services on suspicion of espionage. Gaiduk, according to Russian officials, was involved in a plot by Ukrainian intelligence to sabotage gas facilities in the Kaliningrad region.
Moscow quickly responded to the German decision, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warning that retaliatory measures would be announced shortly. “We will not leave this without a response,” she told TASS.
The Russian broadcaster cited a document it received from the German authorities, which reportedly stated that “the activities of Channel One represent a significant immediate threat to public order and security in Germany and the EU as they pose a threat to the process of the formation of the public opinion and decision-making in the member states.”
The document also said that despite the Russian TV station’s website being blocked in Germany, its content “is still available on the Internet, is distributed via Telegram channels and continues to influence the Russian-speaking population of Germany.”
“Russian media has promoted the decline of the West and the economic collapse of Europe. This narrative and other far-right narratives have taken root among many Russian speakers, causing mistrust of the structures of the German state, the EU, and influencing far-right groups in Germany,” the document added, as cited by Channel One.
The expulsion of Channel 1’s journalists is the latest in a series of actions taken by Western European governments against Russian media outlets since Moscow’s military offensive against Ukraine in 2022. In March of that year, most Russian news sources were banned in the EU, including RT and Sputnik.
“We were simply doing our job by reporting on the events in Ukraine, and now we are being punished for it,” Blagoy said. “This is not just an attack on Channel One; it’s an attack on the freedom of the press itself.”
In late September, a couple from the German city of Karlsruhe was arrested on suspicion of broadcasting RT and other Russian TV channels via the internet. They may face at least one year in prison if found guilty of violating the Foreign Trade Act.
Diplomat discourages recourse to pressure, intimidation, confrontation against Iran
Press TV – November 22, 2024
A ranking Iranian diplomat has strongly discouraged Western countries from resorting to pressure, intimidation, and confrontational approach against the country over its legitimate and peaceful nuclear energy activities.
Seeking recourse to the above measures “does not amount to adoption of a sustainable and credible course, and [application of such methods] will eventually hit a dead end,” Mohsen Naziri Asl, Iran’s permanent representative at the United Nations office in Vienna, said on Friday.
“The Islamic Republic is [rather] prepared for joining positive interaction through dialog and constructive cooperation towards potential achievement of a sustainable solution [to standing issues].”
The remarks came after the Board of Governors of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), adopted an anti-Iranian resolution based on a proposal that had been forwarded by the UK, France, and Germany. The resolution reiterated the trio and their allies’ accusations against the Islamic Republic of insufficient cooperation with the IAEA.
In chorus with the United States and others, the threesome European states have been taking numerous similar measures against Iran in line with the accusations that run counter to the standing status of the country and the agency’s cooperation, which has even increased in frequency and quality over the past years.
The ongoing confrontational approach on the part of the West comes, while it was the US that broke off its internationally-endorsed commitments to Iran by unilaterally and illegally leaving a 2015 nuclear agreement between the Islamic Republic and world countries and returning the sanctions that the deal had lifted.
The European trio, which were likewise signatories to the deal, meanwhile, failed to return Washington to the accord, despite their repeated insistence that they would do so.
Naziri considered the US’s illegal withdrawal from the deal to be the principal reason behind the deal’s current unfavorable status, noting that Washington “has not stopped short of taking any measure to destroy the deal.”
He also reminded the European parties of their refusal to live up to their commitments under the accord.
The official also pointed to the retaliatory measures that Iran has been taking in response to the US’s withdrawal, and the European countries’ and the IAEA’s confrontational attitude, which, most recently, saw the country activating its advanced centrifuges.
He cited Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s repeated statements, during which the officials asserted that the Islamic Republic would walk back its legal remedial steps if the American sanctions were effectively and verifiably annulled and the nuclear deal’s other parties returned to performing their contractual duties.
Naziri, therefore, advised the European sides “not to repeat their unsuccessful courses of action of the past.”
Separately, he strongly condemned the European countries’ recent sanctions against the Iranian national carrier and shipping company, considering the bans to be in violation of the nuclear deal’s “spirit and text.”
“We consider these [economic] measures to be in contradiction with the commitments that could serve as the foundation of any future interaction.”
The official also denounced the European trio for ignoring their duty towards lifting the sanctions that they have illegally imposed over Iran’s missile program, which they have to lift under their commitment to the nuclear deal’s sunset clauses.
“One must stress that, in line with an announcement that has been made by the UN Secretariat, Iran’s missile program will no longer be subject to the restrictions that have been imposed by the UN Security Council.”
Naziri again asserted that the Islamic Republic was ready for positive interaction as long as the other parties to the nuclear deal proved their political will and commitment to the accord by not tying negotiations that address the agreement’s potential revival to irrelevant issues.