The Kremlin expresses concern that tensions over Iran keep escalating despite assurances from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a visit to Russia that Washington was not seeking war.
“So far we notice the continued escalation of tensions around this subject,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says, a day after Pompeo met with President Vladimir Putin.
“We are saddened to see the decisions taken by the Iranian side,” Peskov says, while arguing that Washington has been provoking Iran.
Speaking in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi on Tuesday, Pompeo assured Russia that his country did not want war with Iran, despite a spike in tensions that has seen the Pentagon dispatch nuclear-capable bombers to the region.
But Peskov seeks to play down those statements.
“There were no assurances from Pompeo,” Putin’s spokesman tells reporters.
“And one can hardly talk about some sort of assurances. There is an obvious situation which unfortunately tends to escalate further.”
— AFP
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From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
