BEIJING: China will hold the Beijing meeting between China, Russia and Iran on the Iranian nuclear issue on March 14, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced on Wednesday.
Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu will chair the meeting and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov Sergey Alexeevich and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi will attend the meeting in Beijing.
The three parties will exchange views on the Iranian nuclear issue and other issues of mutual interest, said the spokesperson.
Iran, Russia and China also held a joint naval maneuver in the waters near the Chabahar port in southeastern Iran in recent days.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also said in an interview on Wednesday that Russia and its partners discussed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear issue.
“We are in favor of restoring the original plan that the Americans withdrew from during the first term of the Trump administration. There are some contacts on the European side,” he said.
“We would be in favor of resuming the format that developed the initial agreement approved by the Security Council, which included France, Germany, Britain, the United States, Russia, China and Iran,” Lavrov added. “We will see how it goes.”
“But what is worrying is that there are signs that the Americans would like this new agreement to be accompanied by political conditions and insist that there should be a verifiable arrangement for Iran not to support groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and anywhere else, which I don’t think will lead anywhere,” Lavrov added.
“I don’t think this is realistic,” Lavrov added.
Ties between Iran and Russia have deepened since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022, with a strategic cooperation treaty signed in January. Both have good relations with China.
The meeting will follow a closed-door gathering of the United Nations Security Council in New York the same day regarding Iran’s expansion of its stocks of uranium that are close to weapons-grade.
Last week, Russia said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov discussed international efforts to tackle Iran’s nuclear programme with its ambassador, Kazem Jalali, after reports emerged that Russia agreed to help US President Donald Trump’s administration in communicating with Iran.
Tehran has long denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon.
However, the UN atomic watchdog IAEA has warned it is “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60 per cent purity, close to the weapons-grade level of roughly 90pc.
Iran reached a deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States in 2015, that lifted sanctions on Tehran in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.
But Washington quit the plan in 2018 during Trump’s first term, and Iran began moving away from its nuclear-related commitments.
China has said it supports Iran in safeguarding its legitimate rights and calling for an early resumption of the Iranian nuclear talks.
