TEHRAN: Just a day after US announced fresh sanctions on Iran targeting over 30 vessels and people, including the head of the state oil company, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday dismissed the possibility of direct negotiations with the US on his country’s nuclear programme.

The sanctions were the latest to be imposed since US President Donald Trump reinstated his “maximum pressure” policy towards Iran, reprising his approach during his first term.

“There will be no possibility of direct talks between us and the United States on the nuclear issue as long as the maximum pressure is applied in this way,” FM Araghchi said during a joint press conference with his visiting Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday.

“Regarding the nuclear negotiations, the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran is very clear. We will not negotiate under pressure, threat or sanctions.”

Iranian, Russian foreign ministers address a joint press conference

Lavrov arrived in Tehran for talks with Araghchi and other senior officials on a range of topics including bilateral relations, regional developments and the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers.

During Trump’s first term, which ended in 2021, Washington unilaterally withdrew from the landmark nuclear deal among several countries for relief from sanctions.

On Monday, Iran held a new round of talks with Germany, France and Britain about its nuclear programme after reviving engagement with the trio, known as the E3, late last year.

FM Araghchi said he had briefed Lavrov about the latest discussions. “On the nuclear issue, we will move forward with the cooperation and coordination of our friends in Russia and China,” he added.

During a visit to Moscow in January, Iranian Presi­dent Masoud Pezeshkian signed a strategic partnership with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin underpinning their economic and military cooperation. Both Iran and Russia suffered a major setback in Syria in December when rebels toppled their longtime ally Bashar al-Assad after both governments invested heavily to support him over more than a decade of civil war.

FM Araghchi said Iran and Russia’s positions on Syria remain “very close”. “Iran wants peace, stability, preservation of territorial integrity and unity, and the progress of Syria based on the will of the people,” he said.

Lavrov, for his part, said, “We will do our utmost to ensure that the situation calms down and does not pose a threat either to the Syrian people… or to the people of neighbouring states”.

Published in Dawn, February 26th, 2025