Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has blamed the recent turmoil in Iran mainly on the illegal sanctions the US imposed on the Islamic Republic after unilaterally withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal.

“Problems in Iran are very serious, to a large extent because of the US sanctions that were imposed on that country absolutely illegally, because the Americans withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and are seeking to make others implement it,” he told the Mediterranean Dialogues (MED) conference in Rome on Friday.

Lavrov also noted that the US scheme, which is meant to provoke public disconnect in Iran, was also used in Venezuela.

“If the US wants to stifle Iran economically and instigate people’s discontent, we see such a scheme being used in Venezuela. It is a pattern.”

In May 2018, the US scrapped the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that had been endorsed by the UN Security Council Resolution 2231.

Since then, the administration of US President Donald Trump has unleashed the “toughest ever” sanctions against Tehran, notably targeting its key oil exports.

Source: Iranian media