China stands with Iran on nuclear deal after talks paused amid Russia’s conflict with West
- Wang Yi says Beijing favours Vienna negotiations concluding and he voices China’s support for lifting US sanctions against Iran
- Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismisses claim Russia is responsible
for the pause in negotiations and accuses US of trying to shift the
blame
16 Mar, 2022
Beijing has pledged support for Tehran after talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal ground to a halt amid soaring tensions between Russia and the West over the Ukraine war.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi on
Tuesday said China would help push for an early conclusion to the
months-long nuclear negotiations in Vienna, in his first comments after
talks were called off last week over a reported last-minute demand by
Russia.
“China always supports an early agreement on resuming
compliance with the nuclear deal, and is open to and supportive of
efforts to this end,” Wang told his Iranian counterpart Hossein
Amir-Abdollahian in a phone conversation, according to Xinhua.
Wang,
who helped elevate Beijing’s strategic ties with Tehran a year ago with
a landmark 25-year cooperation pact, reiterated China’s support for the
Middle Eastern power in lifting unilateral US sanctions, which he said
“have no basis in international law”.
“In the face of the rapidly evolving international and regional situation, China is ready to strengthen coordination and cooperation with Iran to push the resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue in a direction conducive to regional peace and stability,” Wang said.
Abdollahian, who was on a trip to Moscow, thanked China for its “constructive role” in the Vienna talks over the past 11 months and expressed hope the negotiations could resume soon.
“Iran stands ready to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible and resolve the final outstanding issues through consultation with related parties, so as to work towards a good agreement,” Xinhua quoted him as saying.
Their conversation came as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
brought fresh uncertainty to any revival of the Joint Comprehensive Plan
of Action (JCPOA), which former US president Donald Trump unilaterally
abandoned in 2018.
Washington
has blamed Moscow for the suspension of the talks after an unexpected
demand on March 5 by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for sweeping
guarantees that its trade ties with Iran not be affected by the
Ukraine-related sanctions.
Lavrov refuted allegations that his country was to blame for the pause in negotiations after his talks with Abdollahian in Moscow on Tuesday and accused the US of trying to shift the blame to others.
The Russian diplomat said Russia had received written US assurances that Western sanctions against Moscow over Ukraine would not hinder cooperation within the framework of the deal, which lifted sanctions on Tehran in return for curbs on its nuclear programme.
Abdollahian also came to Moscow’s defence, praising Russia’s “constructive” efforts during the talks while blaming the US for lacking the “political will” to resolve several outstanding issues in the nuclear negotiations in Vienna.
“If we can reach an understanding with the United States on the few issues that are our red line and get to a final agreement, Russia will stand with us until the end of talks to reach a good, stable and strong nuclear deal,” he said.
But it remains unclear if the talks can resume any time soon.
According to Gu Zhenglong, a researcher at Shanghai International Studies University, the outcome of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its geopolitical implications will play a big role in the fate of the Iran nuclear deal.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price on Tuesday said
Washington would not sanction Russian participation in nuclear projects
in Iran under a revived nuclear deal, but would not allow Russia to use
the deal as an “escape hatch” to evade Ukraine-related sanctions.
Another
US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, responded cautiously
to Lavrov’s comments, saying they might mean Moscow had come around to
the US view that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should not torpedo the
Iran nuclear deal.
“Perhaps it is now clear to Moscow that, as we have said publicly, the new Russia-related sanctions are unrelated to the JCPOA and should not have any impact on its implementation,” the unnamed State Department official said.
Additional reporting by Reuters