Russian, Iranian Foreign Ministers Discuss Upcoming Nuclear Talks

Russia announced that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart over the resumption of the nuclear talks this month.

The phone call on Saturday took place at the request of the Iranian side, the announcement said. Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian who is in quarantine for contracting the coronavirus, discussed the prospects for resuming nuclear talks in Vienna later this month.

The two foreign ministers spoke in favor of restoring the nuclear deal “in its original balanced configuration, approved by the UN Security Council. this is the only correct way to ensure the rights and interests of all participants in the comprehensive agreements," the ministry said.

Iran, which suspended the multilateral Vienna talks in June after the election of its hardliner president Ebrahim Raisi, is trying to gain Russia support before the talks resume. Tehran has been giving signals of a adopting a harder posture.

Lavrov and Amir-Abdollahian also discussed the upcoming visit of Rafael Grossi to Tehran, the director of UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The two sides also discussed bilateral and regional issues, including Afghanistan and the situation in South Caucasus.