Iran, Russia and China held nuclear talks: called for an end to sanctions after Tehran refused Trump's negotiations

China, Russia, and Iran called for an end to sanctions during nuclear talks organized by Beijing, days after Tehran rejected US President Donald Trump's call for negotiations, UNN writes, citing Bloomberg.

Details

According to a joint statement, the three countries stressed the need to end all unilateral sanctions during a meeting in the Chinese capital on Friday. They also called on all parties to avoid escalation.

The meeting was hosted by Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu, and was also attended by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Garibabadi.

"We reiterated that political and diplomatic engagement and dialogue based on the principle of mutual respect remain the only viable and practical option," Ma told reporters after the meeting.

Participants also stressed the need for all countries not to take actions that would undermine the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the statement said.

The meeting underscores the stronger ties between Iran and Russia during Trump's absence from the White House. It is also the latest in a series of diplomatic moves regarding Iran's expanding nuclear program, the newspaper writes.

While Iran insists its nuclear efforts serve only civilian purposes, Western governments have long suspected the country of seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Uranium enrichment in Tehran has increased since Trump's election victory in November, the IAEA said last month.

According to a joint statement, China and Russia welcomed Iran's repeated statement that its nuclear program is intended exclusively for peaceful purposes.

Addition

Last week, Trump said he wrote a letter to the Iranian leadership urging it to start negotiations on a new agreement. The Republican abandoned the previous agreement during his first term in 2018, and little progress has been made since then to restore the agreement.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a televised speech on Wednesday that his country is not trying to create nuclear weapons and dismissed Trump's calls for negotiations as a "trick".

The meeting in Beijing took place after two rounds of preliminary nuclear talks between Iranian and European diplomats in Geneva in recent months.