Russia Criticizes US Sanctions on Russian Arms Exporter

Russia Criticizes US Sanctions on Russian Arms Exporter

By VOA News
24 October 2008

Moscow said U.S. sanctions on Russia's state arms exporter enacted for sharing technology with Iran violate international law.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the sanctions on Russia's Rosoboronexport company will not persuade Moscow to adopt a U.S. approach to resolving the Iranian nuclear controversy.

Lavrov said Russia's cooperation with Iran is in line with international law, and that the U.S. move will hurt bilateral ties.

On Thursday, the U.S. imposed sanctions on 13 companies it accuses of giving Iran, Syria or North Korea technology that could be used for making weapons of mass destruction.

The U.S. barred companies in Russia, China, Venezuela, Iran, North Korea, South Korea, Sudan, Syria and the United Arab Emirates from doing business with the U.S. government.

The United States and Russia are two of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. The U.N. body has hit Iran with three sets of sanctions for its refusal to stop enriching uranium, a process that can be used to make nuclear weapons. They are currently at an impasse over what steps to take next.

The United States and its Western allies accuse Iran of working to produce a nuclear weapon. Iran says its atomic program is for peaceful purposes.

On Thursday, the Export Development Bank of Iran denounced a U.S. decision to sanction it for allegedly helping finance Iran's missile procurement network. U.S. Treasury officials had designated the bank as a weapons "proliferator."

VOA News - Russia Criticizes US Sanctions on Russian Arms Exporter