China, Russia back Iran as Trump presses Tehran for nuclear talks

BEIJING: China and Russia stood by Iran on Friday after the United States demanded nuclear talks with Tehran, with senior Chinese and Russian diplomats saying dialogue should only resume based on “mutual respect” and all sanctions ought to be lifted.

In a joint statement issued after talks with Iran in Beijing, China and Russia also said they welcomed Iran’s reiteration that its nuclear programme was exclusively for peaceful purposes, and that Tehran’s right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy should be “fully” respected.

In 2015, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions in a deal with the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. But in 2018, Donald Trump, a year into his first term as US president, pulled out of the pact.

“(China, Russia and Iran) emphasised that the relevant parties should be committed to addressing the root cause of the current situation and abandoning sanction, pressure or threat of force,” China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu told reporters after the meeting.

China, Russia and Iran also emphasised the necessity of terminating all “unlawful” unilateral sanctions, Ma said.

Ma’s meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi came days after Tehran spurned US “orders” to resume dialogue over the nuclear programme.