Chinese Foreign Minister Wag Yi, stands with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, left, and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazeem Gharibabadi, right, before a meeting regarding the Iranian nuclear issue at Diaoyutai State Guest House on Thursday.
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BEIJING — Under pressure from the U.S. and a shifting international environment, China hosted Iranian and Russian officials to discuss Iran’s nuclear program, demonstrate solidarity and possibly align their positions in dealing with the West.
China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov Sergey Alexeevich and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi issued a statement after their meeting, saying the countries discussed “the latest state of play with regard to [the] nuclear issue and sanctions lifting.”
“We reiterate that political and diplomatic dialogue based on mutual respect is the only effective and practical option,” Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma said according to state media. “We emphasize that relevant parties should work to eliminate the root causes of the current situation, abandon sanctions, pressure tactics, and threats of force.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last week rejected President Trump’s call to either enter into nuclear negotiations or face possible military action.
During the meeting, the three nations also reaffirmed the importance of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Program for Action (JCPOA). That 2015 deal requires Iran to curb its nuclear programs in exchange for sanctions relief.
Wu Bingbing, director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Peking University, argues that the JCPOA reflects the interests of all sides in the nuclear issue, by allowing Iran to “peacefully develop nuclear energy,” and promote “the nuclear non-proliferation regime.”
The problem, he says, is that the U.S. pulled out of the JCPOA in 2018 during the first Trump administration. The U.S. reimposed sanctions, so that Iran never got the incentives to curb its nuclear programs that the JCPOA promises.
Wu says no parties want a war over the Iran nuclear issue, so “supporting negotiations and the spirit and principles of the JCPOA, and then reaching a new agreement would be the greatest limit to the risk of war.”
But Zhao Tong, a nuclear weapons expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says that recent developments have heightened the sense of urgency over the Iran nuclear issue.
“One is the approaching deadline in October,” he says, “by which time the remaining members of the previous Iranian nuclear deal with the JCPOA would still have the right to trigger the snapback of comprehensive economic sanctions on Iran.”
The other is that the International Atomic Energy Agency earlier this year said that Iran accelerated its enrichment of uranium to near weapons-grade, beyond what’s required to produce nuclear energy.
Another factor, Zhao says, is that recent Israeli airstrikes have degraded Iranian air defense.
“That means the next few months is the important window of opportunity,” he says, “for Israel and the United States to use the military means to destroy Iranian nuclear facilities.”
Zhao argues that China, Iran and Russia are “like-minded” nations that share common interests and geostrategic objectives.
They also face a U.S. president who is trying to negotiate a deal with Russia over Ukraine, is locked in a trade war with China and has told Teheran to negotiate or face the possible use of U.S. force.
“Trump has been readjusting American strategic approach towards the major powers, making Russia and China also very uncertain about how they should readjust their relationship with each other,” Zhao argues.
“So they have a natural interest to coordinate positions among themselves first before engaging with Western countries.”
NPR’s Cao Aowen contributed to this report in Beijing.
