Russia Says Fresh US Sanctions Not to Affect Moscow-Tehran Banking Ties
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A Russian official said Washington’s sanctions on Iran’s central bank would not affect Moscow’s banking ties with Tehran.
“This will not affect our approaches to Iran. As we planned, we will continue to cooperate with Iran in the banking sector. This will have no effect (on Russia's position)," Russian Foreign Ministry Second Asian Department Director Zamir Kabulov said, according to Sputnik.
On Friday, US President Donald Trump said Washington had imposed new sanctions on Iran's central bank following Tehran's alleged involvement in last weekend's drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities.
Speaking in the Oval Office during a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, the US president said, "We have just sanctioned the Iranian national bank."
"It’s going to hell," Trump said, referring to Iran’s economy.
He said, "I think the sanctions work. The military would work. That's a very severe form of winning."
The Yemeni forces on September 14 launched drone attacks on two plants at the heart of Saudi Arabia's oil industry, including the world's biggest petroleum processing facility.
The attacks came in retaliation for the Saudi-led coalition’s continued aggression on the impoverished Arab country.
Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies have been carrying out deadly airstrikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to fugitive former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
Iran has strongly denied any involvement in the attacks on the Saudi Aramco facilities, which shook global oil markets.
Tehran has warned that any strike on it by the US or the kingdom would lead to "an all-out war".
