JCPOA Violation to Have ‘Dire’ Consequences: Russian Official (+Videos)

“I think it is detrimental to the interests of the United States itself because we know that the JCPOA is an important achievement of the international community,” Naumkin, also an adviser to UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, told the Tasnim News Agency referring to attempts by US President Donald Trump’s administration to abandon the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. 

"I do hope that everything will go smoothly with the finalizing of all arrangements related to this nuclear deal and the role of Iran in the region is also very important and I do hope that these sanctions will be lifted sooner or later because without respecting Iran and its national interests here in the region, it is impossible to provide good environment in the system of international relations,” he added.

The Russian official further warned Trump against scrapping the deal, saying, “I think that our attitude towards that will be extremely negative because the consequences of this step will be very negative and dire. I do hope that Mr. Trump is not going to do that because we hope he is pragmatic man; he is serving the interests of his country and his people and it is in the interest of American people to continue the implementation of this agreement and to base on dialogue and constructive cooperation.” 

Moscow A Hostage to Internal Struggle in US

Naumkin referred to efforts underway inside the US to harm Moscow-Washington relations and said, “…we are hostages of the internal struggle in the United States, and the conservative establishment in the United States wants to spoil (the bilateral ties) and not to allow Trump to undertake any measures, any steps towards the improvement of the relations with the Russian Federation”.

He added, “Because he (Trump) said that he would like to improve relations, God knows whether he wants it or not. Regardless of that, he is prevented to do that. They want to spoil this relation as much as possible and so we are hostages to this policy of sanctions, which is stupid, which is harming the interests of the Europeans and even the Americans; it is the first point. The second point is that we are considering these sanctions as a competition. There is an acute competition in the oil and gas market and the Americans want to produce shale gas and shale oil, especially shale gas, to sell it to the Europeans instead of the Russian gas. That is why they do not want to allow the European companies to work with the Russians on the pipelines, on new deals with the gas supplies, the Northern stream, and the Turkish stream. The Europeans will be forced to buy this LNG, liquidated gas, at a higher price. So they would lose a lot because of the American pressure”.

US Accusations against Russia about 2016 Presidential Election 'Stupid'

Naumkin pointed to reports by US media about Russia's alleged effort to interfere in the 2016 US presidential election, saying, “There are some absolutely stupid accusations against Russia that we have interfered in their elections though we know that it is the United States which is always interfering in all elections all over the world, starting from their allies…they accuse also even our diplomats of doing wrong things there and they expelled a number of Russian diplomats but we know that the Americans themselves are spying even on their friends in Europe, listening to presidents. So that’s why, though there was hope that there will be some changes in this policy, Russia decided to undertake responsive measures to this.”

The Republican-controlled US Congress approved the new sanctions package last month against Russia, Iran and North Korea. The bill was passed with overwhelming margins and was signed into law by Trump. The legislation is particularly aimed at punishing Moscow for its alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and the reunion of Crimea with Russia.

Russia responded by saying the sanctions amounted to a full-scale trade war and an end to hopes for better ties with the Trump administration.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered 755 US diplomats to leave the country after Congress passed the sanctions bill.

Russia Not to Take Reciprocal Measures in Face of US Sanctions

Naumkin pointed to the decision by Moscow to expel the diplomats and seize their properties, noting, “At the same time, we would like to have good cooperation with the United States on the issues where we have common interests. Number one is Syria and number two is counterterrorism. We do believe that this cooperation will continue because the Russians and Americans have common interests in these two things…Russia is very patient; none of the Russian leaders is insulting the United States or accusing the American political leaders of anything, no…Russia is defending its dignity”.

“I do not think we need some reciprocal measures against these (economic) sanctions…they will harm American companies, western companies, European companies. So they will suffer from them… we will continue to work with those partners who are willing to work in Russia. It is a real test for those who are friends and partners.”

Watch the full interview below.