‘Consequences are not good’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview made public on Wednesday, said that any new US strike on Iran would have serious consequences and called for restraint to find a solution to enable Iran to pursue a peaceful nuclear programme.

Lavrov’s interview with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya television was aired a day after US and Iranian negotiators held indirect talks in Geneva to head off a new mounting crisis between Washington and Tehran.

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“The consequences are not good. There have already been strikes on Iran on nuclear sites under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency. From what we can judge there were real risks of a nuclear incident,” Lavrov said in the interview, which was posted on his ministry’s website.

“I am carefully watching reactions in the region from Arab countries, Gulf monarchies. No one wants an increase in tension. Everyone understands this is playing with fire.”

Boosting tensions, he said, could undo the positive steps of recent years, including improved relations between Iran and nearby countries, notably Saudi Arabia.

The White House warned on Wednesday that Iran would be “wise” to do a deal with the United States.

The US military is prepared to strike Iran as early as this weekend, though President Trump has yet to make a final decision on whether he’ll authorize such actions, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said there was a “step forward” in talks between Iran and the United States in Geneva but warned “we don’t have much time”, reports AFP.

A senior US official told Reuters on Wednesday that Iran was expected to submit a written proposal on how to resolve its standoff with the United States after the talks in Geneva, reports Reuters.

US national security advisers met in the White House on Wednesday and were told all US military forces deployed to the region should be in place by mid-March, the official said.

The United States wants Iran to give up its nuclear programme, and Iran has adamantly refused and denied it is trying to develop an atomic weapon.

Lavrov said Arab countries were sending signals to Washington “clearly calling for restraint and a search for an agreement that will not infringe on Iran’s lawful rights and ... guarantee that Iran has a purely peaceful nuclear enrichment programme”.

Russia, he said, remained in close, regular contact with Iran’s leaders “and we have no reason to doubt that Iran sincerely wants to resolve this problem on the basis of observing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty”.

In a separate development, British foreign minister Yvette Cooper yesterday condemned as “totally unjustifiable” the 10-year sentence given to a British couple in Iran for spying, saying the government would continue to press for their release.

Craig and Lindsay Foreman had been charged with espionage after Iran accused them of gathering information in several parts of the country.