Russia stands by Iran

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin will discuss Tehran’s nuclear programme with his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian in China tomorrow, a meeting that comes as Iran faces fresh Western pressure.

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Britain, France and Germany have moved to reimpose sanctions on Iran, saying the country is failing to comply with a 2015 nuclear deal. Moscow on Friday backed its key ally, warning that the reimposition of sanctions risked “irreparable consequences”.

Russia’s foreign ministry accused the European trio of undermining diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful solution to the standoff over Iran’s nuclear programme.

The Kremlin later said that Putin would meet Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in the Chinese city of Tianjin tomorrow.

Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, is a party to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA, which provided Iran with sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme.

The three countries, also dubbed the E3, notified the UN Security Council on Thursday that they “believe Iran to be in significant nonperformance of its commitments” under the agreement, according to a letter seen by AFP.