Atomic rupture: Iran has ruled out dialogue with the United States on the nuclear deal

Iran will not contact the United States about the nuclear deal until Washington stops putting pressure on Tehran. This was stated by the country's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi following a meeting with Sergey Lavrov. During the official visit of the head of Russian diplomacy to the republic, the parties discussed trade cooperation, joint projects in energy and transport, as well as contacts between BRICS, SCO and EAEU. In addition, Moscow and Tehran emphasized similar views on the situation in Syria.

Lavrov and Araqchi discussed cooperation between Russia and Iran

The head of Russian diplomacy arrived in Iran on the afternoon of February 25. It took about an hour to get from the airport to the building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where Sergey Lavrov met with Abbas Araqchi. There were few cars on the streets — February 25 was the coldest day this winter, the temperature dropped to +2 degrees, so 25 of Iran's 31 provinces declared a day off — most government agencies and banks were closed, and school lessons were held online.

Sergey Lavrov's visit to Tehran is aimed at strengthening Russian-Iranian relations at the regional and international levels, Kazem Jalali, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic to Moscow, said ahead of the trip. Relations between Moscow and Iran acquired the status of a comprehensive strategic partnership after the presidents of both countries signed a corresponding agreement in the Kremlin on January 17. The chief of Russian diplomacy also held a closed—door meeting with Iranian President Masoud Peseshkian on February 25.

The ministers also discussed plans to increase trade and economic cooperation, including in the context of the implementation of major joint projects in the fields of energy and transport, Russian Sergey Lavrov said. By the end of 2024, Russia increased its meat supplies to the Persian Gulf countries 1.6 times — in total, more than 100 thousand tons were sold to the states of the region, while Iran is among the top three buyers. Tehran is also interested in buying Russian cars, and the possibility of assembling them in Iran is being discussed.

Sergey Lavrov also appreciated the efforts to start the construction of the Rasht–Astara railway line. According to the minister, this step will allow the launch of the North–South international transport corridor. A Russian export loan will be provided for this purpose.

In addition, they are actively discussing the construction of a gas pipeline from Russia to Iran through the territory of Azerbaijan. Vladimir Putin previously admitted that with the successful implementation of the project, the volume of Russian fuel supplies to the Islamic Republic would reach 2 billion cubic meters. m per year. Moscow and Tehran are also continuing construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

The countries are strengthening cooperation between the SCO and BRICS, and Tehran is actively involved in international processes in the EAEU space. Russia expects the entry into force of the free trade agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and Iran in the near future. This will boost trade turnover. "Our trade is showing positive dynamics: last year, the trade turnover increased by more than 13%, and there is every reason to believe that this trend will continue," Sergey Lavrov said.

Iran and Russia's positions on Syria are close

The parties also discussed the situation in Syria, Afghanistan, Transcaucasia, the Persian Gulf region, Yemen, the Middle East settlement and the Caspian issue. The Syrian issue is particularly relevant against the background of the start of the first meeting of the national dialogue conference on February 25, which should result in a constitutional declaration. It will become the legal basis for the transition period.

— Our positions on Syria are very close. Iran wants stability, security of borders and development of Syria in accordance with the will of the people. We will maintain peace and stability in this country," Abbas Araqchi said at a press conference.

At the same time, as noted in the expert community, Tehran has not had much success in building relations with the new Syrian authorities, who are not yet interested in close contact with Iran.

— Tehran obviously still has an agent network and some groups, but in general, Iran is not a country that is ready and able to seriously change the situation in Syria today. It's more about attempts to maintain influence on the ground, allied structures that have thinned out a lot, but still exist, and through them to be able to increase influence in the future, so that later, when the situation changes somewhat, to use it," Nikita Smagin, an expert on Iran, explained to Izvestia.

Dialogue between Iran and the USA

Another topic of negotiations is the future of the nuclear deal. On February 25, it became known that the United States imposed sanctions against individuals and legal entities and vessels related to Iran's petrochemical industry and the transportation of its oil. This, as stated in Washington, is the first step of the Trump campaign to exert maximum pressure on Tehran. According to Mike Waltz, Assistant to the President of the United States for National Security, the United States is considering all options for action against Iran's nuclear developments.

In this regard, the Foreign Minister of the Republic stated that his country would not sit down at the negotiating table with Washington as long as pressure on Tehran continued.

— There is no possibility of a direct dialogue between us and the United States regarding the nuclear program yet. As long as we observe this pressure, there will be no dialogue," Abbas Araqchi stressed.

Against this background, Iran is looking with concern at the rapprochement between Russia and the United States, Nikita Smagin believes. Nevertheless, Tehran understands that the vector of cooperation between Russia and the countries of the East is unlikely to change, he concluded.

The new US administration has so far shown no interest in restoring the Iranian nuclear deal, and the West as a whole is seriously opposed to normalizing relations with the Islamic Republic, Russian Ambassador to Tehran Alexei Dedov told Izvestia earlier.

The 2015 nuclear deal was signed by Iran, Russia, the United States, Britain, France, China and Germany. It assumed the lifting of anti-Iranian sanctions in exchange for Tehran's limitation of its nuclear program. However, in 2018, US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the agreement, reimposing American sanctions on Tehran. In response, Iran began phasing out a number of its obligations. Thus, he suspended the sale of excess enriched uranium and heavy water to other countries, and also exceeded the 300 kg limit on low-enriched uranium reserves.