Iranian Foreign Minister in Moscow for nuclear deal talks

Iranian official praises Russia's role in negotiations in Vienna aimed at reviving the agreement

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has said the 'window of dialogue' for the nuclear deal is still open. Reuters

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has arrived in Russia to hold talks with the country's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov over efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.

The agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, aimed to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions, in exchange for sanctions relief.

It collapsed when the US, under president Donald Trump, withdrew in 2018, with efforts to revive the agreement proving unsuccessful so far.

“The window of dialogue is still open and one of the topics of the conversation with Mr Lavrov is the JCPOA and the return of parties to their commitments,” Mr Amirabdollahian said in Moscow on Tuesday.

This month, Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, met Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Mr Amirabdollahian and the head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, Mohammad Eslami.

In a joint statement, the nuclear agencies said they would co-operate and interact “in full conformity with the competences of the IAEA”, in what was hailed a breakthrough after months of stalled talks to revive the deal.

In Moscow, Mr Amirabdollahian praised Russia's role in previous rounds of nuclear talks in Vienna, before the meetings broke down in August last year.

“Russia played an important role in the new round of the Vienna talks between Iran and the 4+1 group of countries, which lasted for months,” Mr Amirabdollahian told state-owned Press TV.

“Our Russian colleagues still keep up efforts towards the return of all sides to their commitments. Naturally, the JCPOA will be one of the subjects to be discussed.”

However, Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on Wednesday repeated his country's opposition to the revival of the nuclear deal.

“Iran threatens our region and creates non-stability in the Middle East by supporting and financing terrorism," he said at a meeting with officials from Azerbaijan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tel Aviv.

"We should jointly act against Iran. We should not allow Iran to expand its nuclear opportunities."

Deputy foreign ministers from Russia, Turkey, Iran and Syria are set to meet in Moscow next month, in a bid to expand the normalisation of ties with Syria across the region.

The country is in its 12th year of civil war and has been recovering from February's 7.8-magnitude earthquake that devastated northern areas, as well as large parts of southern Turkey.