Moscow is monitoring US moves on Iran and sees a failure by Washington to understand the nature of the situation inside the country, Interfax news agency quoted a Russian foreign ministry official as saying. The official added that the Americans were counting on fueling the internal situation and inciting the opposition, but their goals would not be successful. The Kremlin and the Russian foreign ministry kept silent over the fierce remarks by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about Iran. No official reaction had been issued by the Russian presidential office or the foreign ministry until Monday evening, except for a comment by the director of the Second Asian Department at the ministry, Zamir Kabulov, who said that more US pressure on Iran would only increase tension in the region. He noted that Washington’s threats regarding “the strongest sanctions in history” against Iran, will push Tehran to adopt a more radical approach in solving regional problems, as Interfax reported. Kabulov went on to say that American officials do not seem to understand that they are using these radical methods that turn the whole Iranian people against them. He added that Washington’s attempts to intimidate Iran would fail, and would lead to the opposite results, given that the use of such rhetoric is considered by the Iranian people as an insult. The Russian diplomat ruled out that the US pressure would strengthen the Iranian opposition, saying: “Even those people in Iran, who disagree with or do not support the current leadership, will stand by their government in this situation.”