The Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov revealed details of an initiative which has been formulated by his country to put an end to Iran’s nuclear standoff, though the initiative is riddled with vague points.

Russia’s new initiative which aims to revitalize negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program and was discussed by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during his meeting with the American counterpart, Hillary Clinton, can be considered the sole Russian initiative on this issue. Lavrov’s “step by step” plan called on Tehran to answer questions about its nuclear activities in stages starting with the easiest questions before addressing the most difficult ones.

While completing a general assessment of the fourth round of international sanctions imposed against the Islamic Republic of Iran, this paper assumes that even if the sanctions successfully target the country’s economic sector, they will not reach their main objective, which is to suspend the Iranian nuclear energy program within the timetable desired by the West.