Russia Links Iran Nuclear Deal to Ukraine Sanctions

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Reuters file photo
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Reuters file photo
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Russia Links Iran Nuclear Deal to Ukraine Sanctions

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Reuters file photo
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Reuters file photo

Russia said on Saturday that it wanted written guarantees from the United States that sanctions on Russia would not damage its cooperation with Iran under a 2015 nuclear deal with global powers that Tehran and Washington are seeking to revive.

"We need a guarantee that these sanctions will not in any way touch the regime of trade-economic and investment relations which is laid down in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters.

"We have asked for a written guarantee ... that the current process triggered by the United States does not in any way damage our right to free and full trade, economic and investment cooperation and military-technical cooperation with the Islamic Republic."

Russia's demand is "not constructive" for talks between Tehran and global powers to revive a 2015 nuclear deal, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Saturday.

"Russians had put this demand on table since two days ago. There is an understanding that by changing its position in Vienna talks Russia wants to secure its interests in other places. This move is not constructive for Vienna nuclear talks," said the official in Tehran.



Trump Says He Might Demand Panama Hand over Canal

This handout picture released by the Panama Canal Authority on August 30, 2024, shows the container ship MSC Marie, of 366 meters long and 51 meters wide, transiting the Panama Canal in Panama. (Handout / Panama Canal Authority / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Panama Canal Authority on August 30, 2024, shows the container ship MSC Marie, of 366 meters long and 51 meters wide, transiting the Panama Canal in Panama. (Handout / Panama Canal Authority / AFP)
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Trump Says He Might Demand Panama Hand over Canal

This handout picture released by the Panama Canal Authority on August 30, 2024, shows the container ship MSC Marie, of 366 meters long and 51 meters wide, transiting the Panama Canal in Panama. (Handout / Panama Canal Authority / AFP)
This handout picture released by the Panama Canal Authority on August 30, 2024, shows the container ship MSC Marie, of 366 meters long and 51 meters wide, transiting the Panama Canal in Panama. (Handout / Panama Canal Authority / AFP)

President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday accused Panama of charging excessive rates for use of the Panama Canal and said that if Panama did not manage the canal in an acceptable fashion, he would demand the US ally hand it over.

In an evening post on Truth Social, Trump also warned he would not let the canal fall into the "wrong hands," and he seemed to warn of potential Chinese influence on the passage, writing the canal should not be managed by China.

The post was an exceedingly rare example of a US leader saying he could push a sovereign country to hand over territory. It also underlines an expected shift in US diplomacy under Trump, who has not historically shied away from threatening allies and using bellicose rhetoric when dealing with counterparts.

The United States largely built the canal and administrated territory surrounding the passage for decades. But the US government fully handed control of the canal to Panama in 1999 after a period of joint administration.

"The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the US," Trump wrote in his Truth Social post.

"It was not given for the benefit of others, but merely as a token of cooperation with us and Panama. If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question."

The Panamanian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.