Iran seeks support from Russia ahead of next round of nuclear deal talks with US

Iran is seeking support from Russia over a possible deal with the United States over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme, ahead of a second round of talks this weekend in Rome.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he briefed his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, about the first round of talks in Oman last week.

He praised Russia’s role in the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that led to lifting of sanctions in return for Tehran’s cap on its nuclear activities.

“We are hopeful and we expect Russia to continue its supportive role in any new agreement,” Araghchi said in a joint news conference with Lavrov in Moscow.

The 2015 nuclear deal collapsed with Trump’s unilateral withdrawal in 2018, while Iran abandoned all limits on its nuclear activities and enriches uranium to up to 60% purity, near the weapons-grade levels of 90%.

Lavrov said Russia was ready to mediate and assist in the nuclear talks.

“We are ready to help, mediate and play any role that, from Iran’s point of view, will be useful and that will be acceptable to the United States,” Lavrov said.

“We proceed from the fact that the only option for an agreement, as the (Iranian) minister just said, is an agreement exclusively on nuclear issues.”

Lavrov said Araghchi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday in talks that “emphasised the unprecedented dynamics of (the) political dialogue” between Moscow and Tehran.

He did not give details, beyond saying Putin was “very pleased” with the talks.

Araghchi said he gave Putin a message from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has a final say on all state matters in Iran but gave no further details.

In Paris, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed the hope that talks with Iran would be “fruitful and that they can lead to something. We would all prefer a peaceful resolution and a lasting one.”

Rubio met with British, French and German officials and pressed them to maintain sanctions on Iran instead of allowing them to expire.

“We should all anticipate, based on the public comments yesterday, that they’re about to get a report from the IAEA that says not just is Iran out of compliance, but Iran is dangerously close to a weapon, closer than they’ve ever been,” Rubio said.