Iranian media has reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov “has reiterated Moscow’s support for the revival of the landmark deal originally signed by Iran and six other world powers back in 2015.” The report comes on the eve of a meeting in China between Iranian, Russian, and Chinese officials.
It also comes after joint naval drills between Iran, China, and Russia. Furthermore, this comes as a letter from US President Donald Trump is expected to be delivered to the Iranian regime and as the Supreme Leader in Iran has rejected a deal with the US.
"We discussed the situation in the Persian Gulf as well as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action”, Lavrov said this week. The comments were reported in Russian state media TASS. Iranian media picked this up, which indicates that Iranian state officials likely want to entertain this Russian concept.
According to the reports, the Russian foreign minister said he was in “favor of resuming the format that developed the original deal endorsed by the Security Council and Iran….We’ll see how it goes," he added.
Lavrov added that “the US wants to link a new nuclear deal with Iran to oblige it not to support (resistance) groups in the Middle East, but this option will not work. It is worrying the Americans are willing to attach political conditions to this new deal.” Meanwhile, the Iranian Supreme Leader has continued to oppose any deal. He has said the US is seeking to deceive Iran.
TASS noted on March 12 that “Russia has discussed the situation around Iran’s nuclear deal with the United States and maintains some communication with the Europeans, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told US bloggers Mario Nawfal, Larry Johnson and Andrew Napolitano in an interview.”
It noted that Lavrov said, “We are in favor of restoring the original program from which the Americans dropped during the first Trump government. There are some contacts on the European side.”
UAE tries to bridge Iran-US talks
The UAE’s Anwar Gargash is on a trip to Iran this week, and this is expected to be linked to the US outreach effort. Gargash, a top advisor to the president of the UAE, met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi.
This comes as a letter from Trump is expected to be delivered. According to reports, the letter was delivered on March 13 during this meeting. “There is no detail of the issues discussed by Araqchi and Gargash in their meeting or the reason behind the trio on Wednesday,” Iranian state media reported.
“Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting earlier today, Araqchi hinted about a letter from US President Donald Trump, saying Iran had not yet received and that a representative from an Arab country was expected to deliver the letter.” However, it appears that just after his statement, he received the letter