Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov affirmed that his country hopes for the United States' return to the nuclear agreement, which is a condition for Iran to fulfill the deal.
During a press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif today, Lavrov stated that the meeting addressed the nuclear agreement, saying, "We are interested in preserving it," while urging the United States to return to the agreement and adhere to its commitments. He expressed Russia's readiness to join any process aimed at achieving goals that promote regional stability.
Lavrov mentioned, "We discussed with Zarif plans to build new units at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran." He added that the bilateral meeting also examined the work of the Syrian constitutional committee under the Astana format, revealing that the next Astana-format meeting on Syria is scheduled for February in Sochi.
Regarding the crisis between Iran and Gulf countries, Lavrov said, "We strive to monitor the situation and intensify our initiatives to keep them active. We presented an initiative on Gulf security two years ago."
For his part, Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif confirmed that discussions with the Russian side were good and constructive, addressing numerous regional issues, and indicated that bilateral relations between Iran and Russia are developing well. Zarif considered the statements of the new American administration mere words, not actions, pointing out that Iran has adhered to the nuclear agreement while the American administration did the opposite. "We called on all European countries to fulfill their commitments, but unfortunately, this did not happen," he noted, leading Iran to reduce its commitments due to the lack of adherence from other parties. He added that they would return to their commitments if the other parties did so.
Zarif clarified that Russia and Iran share a common stance regarding the Syrian issue, calling on the international community to play a crucial role in resolving the Syrian crisis and pushing the constitutional process forward, in addition to the necessity of delivering aid there. Regarding the Yemeni file, Zarif stated, "We hope that cooperation between Iran and Russia continues to alleviate suffering in Yemen, and that efforts should be made to stop the bloodshed and ceasefire there."
