Putin, Russian Security Council members discuss US sanctions on Iran

Russian President Vladimir Putin and permanent members of the national Security Council have discussed the renewal of US sanctions on Iran and preparations for a Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"The meeting’s participants exchanged views on the situation in the wake of the United States’ move to introduce sanctions against Iran," he said. "They emphasized the illegal nature of such actions," Peskov added.

"CSTO issues were also touched upon as part of preparations for the president’s visit to Astana, set to take place later in the week," the Russian presidential spokesman noted.

"There also was a discussion of the current social and economic issues," he said.

The meeting involved Federation Council (lower house of parliament) Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, State Duma (lower house of parliament) Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, Kremlin Administration Head Anton Vaino, Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergei Naryshkin and Presidential Envoy for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport Sergei Ivanov.

US sanctions
On May 8, US President Donald Trump announced Washington’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program, which had been agreed on by Iran and six major powers (five member states of the United Nations Security Council - Russia, the United States, France, the United Kingdom and China - and Germany) in 2015. Trump said that old sanctions on Iran would be restored and new ones would be introduced in case Tehran attempted to pursue its nuclear ambitions.

The first round of US sanctions on Iran, which concern the country’s motor industry and gold trade, took effect on August 7, and the second one came into force on Monday.

The second batch of US sanctions particularly applies to Iran’s oil sector. The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said that it "sanctioned more than 700 individuals, entities, aircraft, and vessels." The US blacklist includes Iran’s the national airline Iran Air and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.