Blinken: Russia Sanctions ‘Irrelevant’ to Iran Deal

Iran sees Russian concerns slowing final deal

With the Iran deal looming, questions between the US and Iran are being wrapped up, but newfound hostility toward Russia is making the Russians a potential issue, and an issue that might slow the deal’s finalization.

Certain key aspects of the Iran deal involve Russia, both economic ties and processing of the enriched uranium. The Russians are saying they think it needs to be clear, given all the US sanctions on Russia, that they won’t get in the way of the Iran deal’s terms.

Secretary of State Tony Blinken is dismissing that, sort of, saying that the Russia sanctions are “irrelevant” to the Iran deal and there is no reason to connect the two.

That was Russia’s argument in the first place, that the two are not and should not be connected. Blinken, however, seems to be spinning this disconnect as no reason to promise that the US won’t entangle the two issues going forward.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.