Russia would not want Iran to withdraw from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and relies on the Islamic Republic to continue participating in the agreement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today, quoted by Reuters, BTA reports.
Peskov said this in response to comments by Iranian officials regarding Tehran's possible withdrawal from the treaty, which commits the Islamic Republic not to develop or acquire nuclear weapons.
Russia and Iran maintain close ties under a strategic cooperation agreement between the two countries, Reuters recalls.
Peskov also said that placing foreign companies' assets in Russia under temporary management does not constitute a change in their ownership and is partly a response to the increasing involvement of “hostile countries“ in military actions against Russia.
Russian authorities this month transferred control of assets in Russia of Swiss food giant “Nestle“, German retail group “Metro“ and French retail group “Auchan“.
Peskov said the measures were reversible, but Moscow currently saw no reason to lift them.
“Given the increasing level of involvement of these hostile countries in direct military actions against our country, such decisions are being made,“ he said.