TASS - The current unstable situation in Iran is to a large extent the result of Washington�s policy of economic pressure on that country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

"The root of these problems is the socio-economic situation of the population, popular discontent with the state of affairs, aspirations for a better life. Governments must react to such things, but I think it is irresponsible and counterproductive to try to use these natural things to make geopolitics. Problems in Iran are very serious, to a large extent because of the US sanctions that were imposed on that country absolutely illegally, because the Americans withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal and are seeking to make others implement it," he said at a session of the Mediterranean Dialogues international conference.

The Russian foreign minister noted that the United States was using this scheme not for the first time. "If the US wants to stifle Iran economically and instigate people�s discontent, we see such a scheme being used in Venezuela. It is a pattern," he noted.

Protests hit a number of cities across Iran after a government regulation was published on November 15 on doubling fuel prices from 15,000 rials ($0.09) to 30,000 rials ($0.2) per liter. Protesters clashed with police, setting on fire bank offices and petrol stations. Riots were reported in a hundred of Iranian settlements.