Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that the United States will be responsible for catastrophic consequences of any war with Iran.

“The responsibility for the potentially catastrophic consequences would be on the U.S.,” RT quoted Lavrov as saying on Wednesday in an interview with the Russian ‘Argumenty i Fakty’ weekly.

Lavrov believes the flare-up of tensions in the Middle East is the “direct consequence of Washington’s and some of its allies' anti-Iranian line.”

“The U.S. is flexing its muscles, it has launched a campaign to discredit Iran, has accused the Islamic Republic of all the sins,” Lavrov said.

He added that it would now “take only one match” to set the whole region on fire, with potentially devastating consequences.

Earlier this month, Russian Senator Frants Klintsevich also said the U.S. hostile actions against Iran have caused the current tension in the region.

Tension between Tehran and Washington has increased since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the Washington from the 2015 nuclear deal in May 2018 and introduced harsh sanctions against Iran.

Tensions entered a new stage since April when the U.S. designated the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (part of the Iranian military) as a terrorist organization, announced that it does no renew waivers for the eight major buyers of the Iranian oil, and started beefing up its military presence in the region, particularly in the Persian Gulf.

Tensions escalated further when the Iranian military shot down an unmanned U.S. surveillance drone on June 20 after it breached Iran’s airspace. 

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that the U.S. military drone entered the Iranian airspace from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and it was targeted near Kouh-e Mobarak.

Chinese Foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said on Tuesday that U.S. should stop exerting pressure on Iran and blamed Washington for causing the current tensions.

According to AP, he said the U.S. should create the conditions for a political and diplomatic settlement of the issue.

Geng[as1] described the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as “irreplaceable”.
 

NA/PA