Russia’s Lavrov: Any New US Strike on Iran is Playing with Fire

By Staff, Agencies 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that any new US strike on Iran is “playing with fire” and will have “serious consequences.”

Lavrov made the remark in an interview with Saudi Arabia's al-Arabiya television aired on Wednesday, a day after Iranian and American negotiators held indirect talks in the Swiss city of Geneva over Tehran's nuclear program.

"The consequences are not good. There have already been strikes on Iran on nuclear sites under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA],” he said.

The top Russian diplomat further emphasized that “From what we can judge, there were real risks of a nuclear incident… Everyone understands this is playing with fire.” 

"A couple of weeks after Alaska, out of the blue, for the first time since Biden’s presidency, the Donald Trump administration announced US sanctions on Lukoil and Rosneft. Then the Americans announced they were demanding that India stops buying Russian oil. Then Venezuela happened. In the latest development, OFAC [the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the US Treasury - TASS] issued a resolution permitting the Venezuelan oil industry to resume operation but prohibiting the involvement of Russia, China, Iran and the DPRK," Lavrov said in the interview, according to TASS.

He stressed that "I mean, while the Americans sincerely told us that, once the Ukraine issue has been settled, we can begin mutually beneficial cooperation, for now, they have been trying to force us out of global energy markets.”