Russia's Lavrov warns against attempts to contain Iran

UNITED NATIONS - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday warned against attempts to contain Iran.

There are attempts to weaken Iran's position in order to stabilize Yemen, Syria and Iraq. But that would be unrealistic, said Lavrov.

"Not a single country with such history, population and civilizational values as Iran can be locked in a cage within its borders," he told a news conference at UN Headquarters in New York.

The only way out is through negotiations so that long-standing differences can be ironed out, said Lavrov, who is in New York for this year's high-level week of the UN General Assembly.

Asked to comment on a possible barter system that will circumvent US sanctions to allow Iran to sell oil, Lavrov said "all avenues, all ways are being discussed for Iran to receive what was promised by the (UN) Security Council."

He was referring to a Security Council resolution that endorsed Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.

US President Donald Trump announced his decision in May to withdraw from the nuclear deal and to re-impose sanctions on Iran.

The remaining five countries have tried to keep the deal afloat.

Lavrov said the foreign ministers of the five countries and of Iran met on July 6 and Sept 24 respectively, and the European participants spearheaded proposals to bypass US elections.

After the Sept 24 meeting, EU's foreign and security policy chief Federica Mogherini said the European Union will set up a legal entity to facilitate legitimate financial transactions with Iran.

The legal entity will allow European companies to continue to trade with Iran in accordance with EU law and could be open to other partners in the world, said Mogherini.

Lavrov said he saw "quite good possibilities" although US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has branded the EU move as unacceptable.