Russia says new sanctions hamper Iran nuclear talks
By Sara Rajabova
Russia has criticized the United States for imposing new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear energy program, saying the unilateral sanctions merely hamper efforts to resolve the West's dispute with Iran.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said the sanctions hinder the negotiations as well as negatively affect the Iranian people and economy. He said sanctions are being imposed every time Iran and the Big Six mediators -- the five UN Security Council members Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States plus Germany -- are planning talks.
"This is dangerous and inefficient," Lukashevich said, adding that inspectors of the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA are due to visit Iran soon.
"We believe that this is an important action in the preparation for a full round of negotiations (between Iran and the six powers)," he said.
The meeting between Iran and the six powers will be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan on February 26.
The U.S. government imposed new sanctions on Iran's energy sector, targeting Iranian oil revenues. The sanctions, which took effect on Wednesday, prevent Iran from gaining access to earnings garnered from its crude exports.
The sanctions require the importing countries to keep their payments at home and only release them in return for purchases of goods from them by Iran, to effectively lock up Iranian oil revenues overseas.
According to the U.S. Treasury Department report to the Congress, foreign banks cut their lending exposure to Iran by the equivalent of $9.1 billion in 2012, down 53 percent.
Iran's isolation from foreign lending "means that much needed investment to support its continued economic development is scarce," the report reads.
The U.S. Treasury announced that "the United States will impose sanctions and increase economic pressure on Iran," because, according to the agency, "Iran does not respond to the concerns of the international community regarding its nuclear program."
Still, many experts say sanctions alone are unlikely to stop Iran's nuclear program as the country has a large foreign currency reserve built up from years of high oil prices.
The sanctions were imposed based on the allegation that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.
Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.