Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman condemned Washington’s decision to withdraw from the Open Skies treaty, saying that there will be anarchism if the US continues to violate international rules and norms.
“The Americans’ unilateralism & exit from Intl. agreements is still ongoing. In the past 3.5 years, the US Administration had kept breaching its Intl. obligations in entirety & challenging all Intl. norms, rules and laws which will definitely end up anarchism,” Seyed Abbas Mousavi tweeted on Friday.
It came after US President Donald Trump said on Thursday it would pull out of the 35-nation treaty, which allows unarmed surveillance flights over member countries, within six months, the Trump administration’s latest move to withdraw from a major global accord.
“Russia didn’t adhere to the treaty, so until they adhere, we will pull out,” Trump told reporters outside the White House, predicting that the US withdrawal would force Moscow back to the table.
On Friday, Russia denied the accusation, and said it was Washington that had flouted the terms of the pact.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Washington had not cited any facts to back up its accusation. He described what he said were US violations of the treaty as “flagrant” and promised to provide detailed evidence of them to other signatory nations.
“We will spend more time having dialogue with these countries to show… with slides, with booklets, why the United States is lying in its claim that Russia is violating the Open Skies treaty, why the US itself is violating this treaty, and what way forward Russia is offering,” Ryabkov said.