Meeting between key diplomats from three countries suggests Tehran might be open to renewed discussions on its nuclear program.
Beijing expressed a hope that the three countries can find a “diplomatic” solution to Iran’s nuclear issue, as reported by Chinese state media on Friday.
“In the current situation, we believe that all parties should maintain calm and restraint to avoid escalating the Iran nuclear situation, or even walking towards confrontation and conflict,” stated Mao Ning, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, before the meeting.
The meeting included Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, who “exchanged views on the Iran nuclear issue and other issues of common concern,” according to Chinese media.
In 2018, during his first term as United States president, Donald Trump withdrew from a significant agreement Iran had made in 2015 with the US, Russia, China, Britain, France, Germany, and the European Union. In this agreement, Tehran had promised to limit its nuclear activities in exchange for the removal of international sanctions.
After Trump ended the deal, Tehran initially adhered to its terms but eventually started to reduce its fulfillments.
Following a series of initiatives from Trump since he returned to the White House in January to restart nuclear talks with Tehran, the Beijing meeting with the three diplomats is taking place.
This week, the US president sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, proposing new talks but also warning that the US has the right to take military action against the country’s nuclear program.
In response, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that he would not negotiate under threats and that Iran would not yield to US demands to talk.
Further inflaming tensions, six members of the United Nations Security Council – the US, France, Greece, Panama, South Korea, and the United Kingdom – held a closed-door meeting to discuss Iran’s nuclear program. Tehran denounced this meeting as an abuse of the UN Security Council.
On Friday, Iran also criticized the US for “hypocrisy” after Washington introduced new sanctions against its oil minister, arguing it was “another clear proof of the falsity of these statements and another sign of its hostility to development.”
While Ayatollah Khamenei asserts that Tehran does not possess or desire nuclear weapons, a recent report from the International Atomic Energy Agency indicated that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium is nearing the amount needed for a nuclear bomb.
