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MOSCOW: Russia has slammed the UN Security Council vote to reimpose economic sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program and warned of a risk of an “escalation of tensions.”
“The Russian side has repeatedly pointed out the provocative and illegal nature of the actions of the European countries participating in the JCPOA,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Britain, France, and Germany were among the parties to a 2015 deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which provided Iran with relief from UN sanctions in exchange for UN-monitored restrictions on its nuclear activities.

The three governments claim Iran has reneged on its commitments under the deal, which has been effectively moribund since Washington pulled out in 2018.
The UN Security Council voted on Friday, after European pressure, to reimpose the UN sanctions on Iran.
“These actions have nothing to do with diplomacy and lead exclusively to a further escalation of tensions surrounding the Iranian nuclear program,” the Russian ministry said.
Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran’s envoy to the UN, described the vote as the “politics of coercion.”
“Today’s action is hasty, unnecessary and unlawful. Iran recognizes no obligation to implement it,” he told the Security Council. 
In August, Moscow warned that the reimposition of sanctions against Iran risked “irreparable consequences.”
Tehran and Moscow have been strengthening their political, military, and economic ties over the past decade.
Also on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed that Iran would overcome any reimposition of sanctions on it through a so-called “snapback” process.
“Through the ‘snapback’ they block the road, but it is the brains and the thoughts that open or build the road,” Pezeshkian said in remarks carried by state television.
“They cannot stop us. They can strike our Natanz or Fordow (nuclear installations attacked by the US and Israel in June), but they are unaware that it is humans who built and will rebuild Natanz,” Pezeshkian said.
“We will never surrender in the face of excessive demands because we have the power to change the situation,” Pezeshkian was quoted as saying by state media.
The “snapback” process would reimpose UN sanctions on Iran unless an agreement is reached on a delay between Tehran and key European powers within about a week.
The snapback would reimpose an arms embargo, a ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing, a ban on activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, a global asset freeze, and travel bans on Iranian individuals and entities.
“We urge (Iran) to act now,” said British Ambassador Barbara Woodward after casting a vote against a resolution that would have extended the current suspension of the sanctions.

VIENNA: Austrian oil, gas and chemicals group OMV has fired an executive over allegations of spying for Russia and a Russian diplomat has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Vienna as a result of the affair, news magazine Profil reported.
Profil magazine said the OMV employee allegedly attracted attention through meetings with a Russian diplomat suspected by Western intelligence services of being an agent of Russia’s domestic intelligence service FSB.
The magazine said that Austria’s Directorate of State Security and Intelligence had been monitoring the OMV executive, who was not identified, for several months.
OMV told Reuters it had terminated the employee’s contract with immediate effect and the company was cooperating fully with the relevant authorities.
“For data protection reasons, we cannot comment on further details regarding individual employment relationships,” an OMV spokesman said.
The Austrian Foreign Ministry told Reuters it was aware of the allegations and the pending criminal proceedings against a Russian diplomat.
The chargé d’affaires of the Russian embassy in Vienna has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry, and asked to waive the diplomat’s immunity.
“Otherwise, he would have been considered persona non grata and would have to leave Austria,” the Ministry told Reuters.
The Russian Foreign Ministry could not be reached for comment.