WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Iran nuclear agreement could serve as a blueprint for Russia and the United States to make progress in arms control negotiations, former State Department official Harry Blaney told Sputnik.
“The Iran deal would be a ‘win-win’ for the peoples of both countries [Russia and the United States],” Blaney told Sputnik on Wednesday. “I would like to see [Russian President Vladimir] Putin taking this model in his relations with America and the West…and make new progress on US-Russian nuclear reductions.”
Moscow and Washington have a common interest in the non-proliferation of nuclear arms, Blaney explained, and the process employed to finalize the Iran nuclear agreement could help the two countries achieve that common goal.
Blaney argued the nuclear agreement with Tehran also opens up a wider dialogue for the United States and Russia to cooperate with Iran on security issues across the Middle East.
“Not least [of cooperation issues] is seeking a greater reconciliation between the Sunni and the Shia factions and states and trying for a new peace and security framework that takes into consideration the interests of all parties,” Blaney added.
On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov raised the question of the validity of US missile defense systems in Europe, given the historic nuclear agreement reached with Iran.
Members of US President Barack Obama’s administration claim that European missile defense systems are not capable of countering Russia’s strategic nuclear force.
US-Russian nuclear tensions have appeared to be on the rise, with the US conducting a test-flight of a dummy atom bomb earlier in July, and threatening the redeployment of nuclear missiles on continental Europe.
