Russia: Iran Has the Right to Maintain Its Peaceful Nuclear Program

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, responded to former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s provocative remarks about Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, in which Pompeo stated, “Iran is making every effort to revive its nuclear program, and we cannot allow this to happen.” In a post on his X social media account (formerly Twitter), Ulyanov wrote that it seems the former U.S. secretary is unaware that, according to the NPT, Iran has the legitimate right to maintain its national nuclear program.

According to Rokna, Russia’s representative in Vienna had previously emphasized in a post that negotiations with Tehran should be exclusively focused on nuclear issues.

Ulyanov also reshared a video of statements made on Monday (December 22) by Ismail Baqaei, spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in which Baqaei said, “The defensive capabilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran are designed to deter any aggressors from contemplating an attack on Iran and under no circumstances are they matters subject to discussion or negotiation.” Ulyanov wrote on his X account: “Exactly; negotiations should be exclusively devoted to nuclear issues.”

The Russian representative in Vienna added that any attempt to expand the negotiations to include regional security and missile issues would make the entire process unrealistic and akin to trying to “hit three targets with one shot.”

Baqaei, the spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated during his press conference on Monday, in response to an Rokna question regarding Israeli and U.S. media speculation about a possible repeat of military aggression by the Israeli regime under the pretext of Iran’s missile program, that “the defensive capabilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran are designed to deter any aggressors from contemplating an attack on Iran and are under no circumstances matters that can be discussed or negotiated.”