Bagheri: Lifting US sanctions high priority for talks

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri held talks via video conference on Monday with his Chinese and Russian counterparts Ma Zhaoxu and Sergei Ryabkov on the upcoming talks aimed at removing sanctions against Tehran.

During this video call, the Iranian deputy foreign minister referred to the ties between the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China and the alignment of the three countries’ positions on different international issues.

Bagheri stressed the principled stance by the three countries in promoting multilateralism and countering unilateralism. He stated that the oppressive U.S. sanctions against Iran are the cost of countering unilateralism.

Bagheri said it is necessary that all sanctions contrary to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action be removed and actions contrary to resolution 2231 be reversed in a verifiable manner and in line with Iran’s economic benefits from the normalization of its economic and trade relations. He described this as a necessary condition for the success of the forthcoming negotiations.

The Iranian deputy foreign minister referred to the recent consultations in France, Germany, Britain and Spain on the forthcoming talks, saying the effective removal of illegal U.S. sanctions is a key necessity and a high priority for the forthcoming talks.

In this video call, the deputy foreign ministers of Russia and China emphasized the need for continued consultations and coordination among the three countries on different issues. They said the U.S. unilateral move to violate the agreement and re-impose sanctions against Iran is the main cause of current problems in implementing the agreement between Iran and the P5+1.