Iranian, Russian FMs to Meet in Moscow Thursday
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov plan to hold a meeting in Moscow on June 4, a top Iranian diplomat said.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the upcoming meeting will take place on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) security conference in the Russian capital.
Earlier in May, Lavrov said Russia favors a political decision to promote Iran’s membership in SCO depending on progress in Iran nuclear talks.
Tehran filed a request to join the regional cooperation group, but the bid has not been formally considered because the SCO’s charter prohibits the accession of candidates under UN Security Council sanction.
The UN Security Council, the European Union and several individual countries slapped Tehran with sanctions over its nuclear energy program.
Many of the sanctions will be terminated under a comprehensive nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, the text of which is now being drafted ahead of an end-June deadline.
On April 2, Iran and Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) reached a framework nuclear agreement in Lausanne, Switzerland, with both sides committed to push for a final deal until the end of June.
The Thursday meeting between Zarif and Lavrov will coincide with a new round of diplomatic negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, due to be held in Austria’s Vienna.
