Kissing up to Putin not working so far. Russia rejects Trump assertion that Iran is terrorist state
Russia rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s assertion that Iran is the world’s “number one terrorist” nation, and said that the government in Tehran should be part of a proposed coalition to fight against Islamic State.
“All those who see Islamic State as an existential threat should start to act in a coordinated manner and I’m sure that if we look objectively at potential members of this coalition, Iran should, of course, be part of our joint efforts,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters on Monday.
Trump labelled Iran as the top sponsor of state terrorism in an interview with Fox News broadcast Sunday, adding: “They are sending money all over the place, weapons.” Russia doesn’t agree with this characterization and values its “friendly” relations with Iran, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday on a conference call with reporters.
The exchange marks the first major disagreement between President Vladimir Putin and the new Trump administration, even as both sides say they are ready to work together to fight Islamic State. Russia has defended Iran against U.S. claims that its recent missile tests violated the 2015 nuclear agreement between the Islamic Republic and world powers, and criticized American sanctions imposed last week in response to the launches as counterproductive.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-02-06/russia-rejects-trump-s-charge-that-iran-is-top-terrorist-state
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