Russia says not after ‘selfish interests’ in Iran nuclear deal

“We never betray our friends in politics. Venezuela is our friend, and Iran is a state that is very close to us,” Lavrov stated on Saturday.

“Secondly, we do not pursue selfish interests, unlike the Americans,” Lavrov told finalists of the international stage of the Leaders of Russia competition in response to a question whether the JCPOA reinstatement was advantageous to Russia, considering that Iranian oil supply to the global market would resume after that.

“You can see what they [the Americans] are actually doing, trying to spite Russia and teach it a lesson. Ah, well, let the regime in Caracas be. Let Iran be, let us reinstate the program as soon as we can just to punish Russians,” he added.

“So, the Americans have been contacting Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Qatar regarding oil and gas. All of those countries, just like Venezuela and Iran, clearly said: when we discuss issues pertaining to the appearance of new actors in the oil market, all of us are committed to the OPEC+ format, where quotas for every actor are discussed and agreed upon by consensus,” the foreign minister continued.

“For now, I see no reason to believe that this mechanism may somehow be dismantled. No one is interested in that,” Lavrov noted.