China will host a high-level meeting in Beijing on Friday with Russia and Iran to discuss the Iranian nuclear issue, the Chinese foreign ministry announced. Their deputy foreign ministers will represent both Russia and Iran.
The discussions come amid growing strategic cooperation between Iran and Russia, which has intensified since the onset of the Ukraine war in 2022. Tehran and Moscow formalized their deepening ties in January by signing a strategic cooperation treaty. Both nations also maintain strong diplomatic and economic relations with China, further reinforcing their trilateral engagement.
China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu will chair the meeting, Mao Ning, a spokesperson of its foreign ministry, told a regular press conference on Wednesday.
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 that Russia agreed to help U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration in communicating with Iran.
Tehran has long denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. However, the U.N. atomic watchdog IAEA has warned it is “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the weapons-grade level of roughly 90%.
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 program.
But Washington quit the plan in 2018 during Trump’s first term, and Iran began moving away from its nuclear-related commitments.
Team BharatShakti
