Iran turns to Russia and China to discuss European threat of sanctions ‘snapback’

Iran, Russia and China met on Tuesday to discuss Tehran's nuclear programme and the risk of sanctions being reimposed under the United Nations' snapback mechanism, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said.

Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3, have warned they would use the mechanism, which would reimpose international sanctions on the Islamic Republic, if there was no progress on nuclear talks by the end of August.

At Monday’s meeting in Moscow, Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov and his Iranian counterpart Aziz Nasirzadeh also discussed strengthening military cooperation, Russian state news agency RIA reported on Monday, citing the Iranian ambassador.

Earlier on Monday, Baghaei said there were currently no plans to resume nuclear talks with the United States, with whom Tehran held five rounds of indirect negotiations prior to Israel's strikes on Iran last month.

Iran's deputy foreign ministers will hold nuclear talks with the E3 and European Union diplomats on Friday in Istanbul , Baghaei said, adding that Tehran would also "seek answers" because the countries did not condemn the Israeli and US strikes.

The three European powers, along with China and Russia, are the remaining parties to a 2015 nuclear deal that lifted sanctions on Iran in return for restrictions on its nuclear programme. The US withdrew from the pact in 2018.

The meeting between Iran, China and Russia will take place in Tehran at the level of foreign ministry director generals.

"We are continuously coordinating with these countries on how to prevent (the snapback mechanism) or to mitigate its consequences," Baghaei said, adding that the E3 lacked the legal standing to invoke the mechanism.

On Sunday, Ali Larijani in his capacity as presidential envoy, held a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss issues such as Iran's controversial nuclear programme.

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)