China’s foreign ministry announced Wednesday that it will host a meeting with Russia and Iran on Friday in Beijing to discuss the Iranian “nuclear issue,” with both countries sending deputy foreign ministers.
Ties between Iran and Russia have grown stronger since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis in 2022, with a strategic cooperation contract inked in January.
The meeting will be chaired by China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu, according to Mao Ning, a foreign ministry official, who spoke during a regular press conference on Wednesday.
The conference will take place on the same day as a closed-door meeting of the United Nations Security Council in New York to discuss Iran’s build up of weapons-grade uranium reserves.
Tehran has long denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon.
However, the UN atomic watchdog IAEA has warned it is “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the weapons-grade level of roughly 90%.
Iran reached a deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States in 2015, that lifted sanctions on Tehran in return for curbs on its nuclear program.
China has said it supports Iran in safeguarding its legitimate rights and calling for an early resumption of the Iranian nuclear talks.
