Iran on Friday regarded to Russia for backing on a possible settlement with Washington relating to its advancing nuclear program, forward of a second spherical of talks set for this weekend in Rome.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi mentioned he briefed his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on the primary spherical of talks in Oman final week and praised Russia’s function in Iran’s 2015 nuclear cope with world powers that led to the lifting of sanctions in return for Tehran’s cap on its nuclear actions.
“We are hopeful, and we count on Russia to proceed its supportive function in any new settlement,” Araghchi mentioned in a joint news convention with Lavrov in Moscow.
The 2015 nuclear deal collapsed with Donald Trump’s unilateral withdrawal whereas Iran deserted all limits on its nuclear program, and enriched uranium to as much as 60% purity – close to weapons-grade ranges of 90%.
Lavrov mentioned Russia was able to mediate and help within 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 truth that the one choice for an settlement, because the (Iranian) minister simply mentioned, is an settlement solely on nuclear points.”
Lavrov mentioned Araghchi met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday in talks that “emphasized the unprecedented dynamics of the political dialogue” between Moscow and Tehran. He did not give details, beyond saying Putin was “very happy” with the talks.
Araghchi mentioned he gave Putin a message from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the ultimate say on all state issues in Iran. He didn’t elaborate.
In Paris, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed hope that talks with Iran are ″fruitful, and that they’re that they will result in one thing. We would all want a peaceable decision and a long-lasting one.″
Rubio met with British, French and German officers in Paris and pressed them to take care of sanctions in opposition to Iran as a substitute of permitting them to expire.
″We ought to all anticipate, primarily based on the general public feedback yesterday, that they’re about to get a report from the IAEA that claims not simply is Iran out of compliance, however Iran is dangerously near a weapon, nearer than they’ve ever been,” Rubio mentioned.
He added: “And then they (the Europeans) are going to need to decide about whether or not they wish to reimpose these sanctions. And if Iran is out of compliance, they need to reimpose the sanctions.″
Source: www.dailysabah.com