Moscow (dpa) – Russia on Tuesday reaffirmed its opposition to an international embargo on oil exports from Iran and said it would block a United Nations Security Council resolution to that effect. “We believe that sanctions relative to Iran have lost their usefulness,” said Gennady Gatilov, Deputy Foreign Minister at a Moscow press conference, according to the Interfax news agency. “We will oppose any new resolution (on UN sanctions against Iran),” he said. Gatilov's comments came after Monday talks in Moscow between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Deputy US Secretary of State William Burns, and Michael McFaul, the new US ambassador to Russia, on Iran and Syria, a Foreign Ministry statement said. Russia, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, can veto resolutions. An internationally-binding embargo on oil exports from Iran, as has been suggested by the United States, would require the council's unanimous approval. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/MdzhX Tags: Oil, Russia, sanctions Section: Europe, Iran, Latest News
