Russia: Attack on Iran's Nuclear Facilities Will Have Catastrophic Consequences for the Region

The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister warned that any attack on Iran's nuclear infrastructure would have "catastrophic" consequences for the region. Sergey Ryabkov, in an interview with the magazine "International Affairs" on Tuesday, April 1, condemned what he called Donald Trump's "deadline" to Iran. He stated, "We consider such methods inappropriate and condemn them." On April 10, Donald Trump threatened that if Iran did not reach an agreement with Washington regarding its nuclear program, Iran would be bombed and secondary tariffs would be imposed on the country. With secondary tariffs, the U.S. would subject countries and entities purchasing Iranian products to punitive measures, including tariffs. In another part of his interview, Ryabkov said, "While there is still an opportunity and the train has not left, we must double our efforts to reach an agreement on a logical basis." He stated, "Russia is ready to provide its good services to Washington, Tehran, and all those interested in this matter." Russia had also announced last month that it was ready to mediate between Iran and the U.S. Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson for the Russian President, said, "Vladimir Putin has always emphasized the need to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue peacefully, and Russia, as an ally and partner of Iran, is ready to assist in this process." Why does Russia want to mediate between Tehran and Washington? Trump also stated late February that his preference was to reach an agreement with Iran rather than "bomb it heavily," and promised that if an agreement was reached, Israel would not bomb Iran. On March 7, he announced that he had written a letter to Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, regarding negotiations for a new nuclear agreement with Iran, and then said, "We have reached the final moments. We cannot allow them to acquire nuclear weapons." The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic stated the next day that Iran would not negotiate with "bullying governments." However, officials from the Islamic Republic, including Masoud Pezeshkian, the President, and Abbas Araghchi, the Foreign Minister, stated in the past week that Iran had sent a response to Trump's letter through Oman and that Tehran had no objection to indirect negotiations with the U.S. Other officials in Tehran, including Ali Larijani, an advisor to the Supreme Leader, threatened that if targeted, Iran would move towards building nuclear weapons. Larijani emphasized on the evening of April 1 that "military action against Iran has consequences," addressing the U.S. President, stating, "If you ever go towards bombing by yourself or Israel, you will force Iran to decide differently." He claimed that in the event of U.S. or Israeli military action against Iran, "the people will exert pressure" and building a nuclear bomb would "find secondary justification." These statements come as Tehran officials always claim the existence of a fatwa from Ali Khamenei declaring the construction of nuclear weapons "haram" (forbidden). On the other hand, Iran always states that its nuclear program is not "military" and has "peaceful goals," but reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency indicate that its uranium reserves have reached a level sufficient to build six nuclear bombs if enriched to 90%. Iran and six world powers reached the nuclear agreement known as the JCPOA in July 2015, and Trump, who has always criticized the terms of this agreement, announced the U.S. withdrawal from it in May 2018. Since then, Iran has deviated from its JCPOA commitments and accelerated its uranium enrichment, especially in the past year.