Lavrov: Iran Should Be Part of the Anti-Terrorism Coalition

Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, stated that Iran should be part of the anti-terrorism coalition. According to the Russian news agency Interfax, Lavrov said on Monday, February 6, after meeting with his Venezuelan counterpart, Delcy Rodriguez, in Moscow: "I believe that if we look fairly at participation in such a coalition, Iran should be part of these joint efforts." Lavrov's remarks come at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump and senior officials of his administration have recently accused Iran of supporting terrorism and warned Tehran regarding its ballistic missile tests. On Monday, the Kremlin announced that Moscow disagrees with Trump's statement labeling Iran as the "number one terrorist country." The U.S. has repeatedly accused the Iranian government of supporting terrorism, a claim that has been made both during the Obama administration and now under Trump. Iran has consistently rejected these statements and, in turn, accused U.S. allied countries in the region, such as Saudi Arabia, of supporting terrorism. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, responded to journalists asking about the differing approaches of Moscow and Washington regarding Iran, saying: "It is no secret that Moscow and Washington's positions on many international and regional issues are completely different. At the same time, these differences should not be an obstacle to pragmatic and beneficial bilateral communications and relations between Russia and the U.S." The Kremlin spokesperson added that "the Russian Federation is a partner of Iran and has good relations with Iran." Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump have expressed hope that relations between the two countries will improve. Relations between Moscow and Washington have cooled since the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014. Iran, along with Russia, supports the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria against Syrian rebel groups, including al-Nusra Front and ISIS. Iran also supports the central government in Iraq against ISIS. The U.S. provides air support to the central government forces in Iraq against ISIS. On Monday, Sergey Ryabkov, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister, also expressed regret over the new U.S. sanctions against Iran. The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday, February 3, placed 25 Iranian individuals and entities on its sanctions list in connection with Iran's recent missile test. U.S. officials have strongly criticized this missile test. Additionally, Israel, France, and the European Union have also criticized this test. Nevertheless, Tehran has rejected these criticisms, stating that such tests have a "defensive nature."