China has officially announced that it intends to hold discussions with Russia and Iran on nuclear issues, the nation’s foreign ministry confirmed on Wednesday. The discussions, to be hosted in Beijing, will be attended by deputy foreign ministers of the two nations, with China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu presiding over the meeting, spokesperson Mao Ning announced at a press conference.
Relations between Tehran and Moscow have warmed significantly since the launch of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, culminating in an agreement on strategic cooperation in January. Both nations are also closely aligned with China.
The meeting comes as the United Nations Security Council meets behind closed doors in New York on the same day to discuss Iran’s accumulating stocks of uranium nearing weapons-grade.
Russia this week indicated that it is willing to mediate between the Trump administration and Iran over the latter’s nuclear program and support for anti-U.S. proxies.
This followed a recent phone call during which U.S. President Donald Trump expressed interest in Iran’s nuclear program to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
While Tehran has ever rejected any intention to produce nuclear weapons, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has raised alarm on Iran’s accelerated uranium enrichment to a level of up to 60 percent purity—alarmingly close to the weapons-grade purity of about 90 percent.
Iran inked a landmark agreement in 2015, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States. The accord lifted sanctions on Tehran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program. However, the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement in 2018, during Trump’s first term, led Iran to gradually move away from its nuclear obligations.
Trump has sent mixed messages on Iran since his re-entry into the presidency, vowing to resume a “maximum pressure” policy of resuming sanctions and targeting Iranian security forces, highlighted by the killing of a high-ranking general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Simultaneously, he has indicated that he wishes to pursue a “verified nuclear peace deal” with Iran.
