Bloomberg: Russia opposes automatic return of sanctions in case of violation of the agreement by Iran

“The Obama administration is trying to tout the Iran nuclear deal to skeptical Arabs, Israelis and U.S. lawmakers by saying U.N. sanctions will be automatically reinstated if the Iranians are caught cheating,” Bloomberg reports.

“No matter how it is,” say the Russians, who hold one of the five prohibitory votes in the UN Security Council.

“There can’t even be any talk of any automaticity at all” in the reimposition of UN sanctions if Iran violates the terms of the agreement to reduce its nuclear program, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN Vitaly Churkin told Bloomberg News on Wednesday.

“While the Obama administration claims that Russia “in principle” agrees with the need for a mechanism to bring back sanctions if Iran does not comply with the agreement now being negotiated in its final form, the Russian government has provided no evidence of this,” writes agency.

“It seems to me very doubtful that Russia will agree to automatically renew sanctions against Iran in the event of violations,” says Yuri Barmin, an analyst at the Delma Institute research organization (Abu Dhabi). “Russia may agree to discuss this issue in the UN Security Council, but will not quickly re-impose economic sanctions.”

“I would see this as Moscow’s leverage over Washington,” Barmin noted.

Despite the fact that US Secretary of State John Kerry said that the positions of the two countries on the Iranian nuclear program are “very close,” no substantive agreements were reached on this matter, including during the meeting of the head of American diplomacy with President Putin in Sochi, notes the publication.