Zarif says delivered ‘important’ message to Putin, agreed on strategic cooperation deal

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says he has delivered an “important” message from Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, adding that Tehran and Moscow agreed to finalize a long-term comprehensive deal on strategic cooperation.

During a third visit to Russia in the past six months, Zarif said in a tweet late on Tuesday that he had delivered an important message to Putin, adding that he had held extensive talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on bilateral cooperation as well as regional and global coordination.

The top Iranian diplomat said both Tehran and Moscow had “identical views” on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal with major world countries, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and highlighted the need for upholding international law.

Zarif also underlined that Iran and Russia had “agreed to conclude [a] long-term comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement.”

In Moscow,

- Delivered important msg to President Putin.

- Extensive talks with FM Lavrov on bilat coop + regional/global coordination.

- Identical views on #JCPOA and need to uphold int'l law.

- Agreed to conclude long-term comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement. pic.twitter.com/GDhn8VDhva

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) July 21, 2020

Zarif traveled to Russia on Tuesday to hold talks with senior Russian officials on issues of bilateral and regional significance. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi also accompanied Zarif during his visit.

In a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Zarif said Iran-Russia relations are at their strongest in decades, adding that such sustainable ties will benefit both countries and guarantee global peace and security.

Strong Iran-Russia ties guarantee global peace, security: FM Zarif

Foreign Minister Zarif says sustainable and strong relations with Russia will serve both countries and guarantee international peace and security.

Lavrov, for his part, said his meeting with Zarif was an “important stage” in the joint efforts by the remaining members of the JCPOA to maintain this “most important achievement of multilateral diplomacy.”

Lavrov emphasized that there are still chances to preserve the international nuclear accord.

The JCPOA was reached between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the P5+1 group — the US, Britain, France, Russia, and China plus Germany — in 2015 in Austrian capital, Vienna.

In May 2018, US President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled his country out of the JCPOA and later re-imposed the sanctions that had been lifted against Tehran on the back of the deal.

Although it is no longer a party to the deal, the US is currently exerting pressure on the UN Security Council to extend an arms embargo against Iran, which will expire under the JCPOA in October, as part of Washington’s so-called “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.

Tehran has firmly rejected Washington’s plans, stating that the US is no longer a party to the nuclear deal ever since it withdrew from the multilateral agreement.

China and Russia, which are both signatories to the JCPOA, have echoed Iran's position.

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