Russia’s Lavrov says US should ‘abandon language of ultimatums’ on Iran
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the US could facilitate de-escalation efforts by "returning the situation to a negotiating track".
PHOTO: REUTERS
MOSCOW – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on April 5 that Washington should abandon “the language of ultimatums” and return to negotiations, during a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, his office said.
Mr Lavrov’s comments came after US President Donald Trump threatened in an expletive-laden post on April 5 to strike Iran’s power plants and bridges if it did not reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz.
“The Russian side expressed hope that the efforts undertaken by a number of states to de-escalate tensions around Iran will be successful,” said a Moscow read-out of Mr Lavrov’s conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
That, it added, “would be facilitated by the United States abandoning the language of ultimatums and returning the situation to a negotiating track”.
Mr Lavrov and Mr Araghchi also called on Washington to halt “illegal attacks on civilian infrastructure”, such as the Bushehr nuclear power plant, where Russian staff have been working as technicians.
Moscow on April 4 began evacuating its 198 workers from the site shortly after a US-Israeli projectile hit near the facility, Russian state media reported. AFP
