Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations in Vienna, said Iran has the legitimate right to maintain its national nuclear program, responding to remarks by former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Reacting to Pompeo’s claim that Washington would not allow Iran to revive its nuclear activities, Ulyanov said such statements ignore Iran’s rights under international law.
In a post on the social media platform X, Ulyanov wrote that Iran, as a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), is entitled to maintain a nuclear program as long as it is exclusively for peaceful purposes.
"Apparently, the former Secretary of State does not know that under the NPT Iran has the inalienable right to maintain national nuclear programme provided that it serves exclusively peaceful purposes," Ulyanov wrote on X.
In a separate post, Ulyanov also reacted to remarks by Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei, who said Iran would not negotiate over regional or missile-related issues.
Ulyanov endorsed this position, stating that negotiations should be strictly limited to nuclear matters. Expanding talks to include regional security or missile capabilities, he warned, would make the entire process unrealistic.
“Right. The talks should be devoted to nuclear issues only. Any attempt to extend the negotiations to regional security and missiles will make the whole exercise unrealistic. It would be like an attempt to hit three birds with one stone," the senior Russian diplomat wrote on X.
MNA
Your Comment