Russia slams report it backed 'zero enrichment' Iran nuclear deal
Russia's foreign affairs ministry on Sunday described reports claiming that President Vladimir Putin had encouraged his Iranian ally to accept a "zero enrichment" agreement on its nuclear programme as "defamation".
US news outlet Axios reported on Saturday, citing three anonymous sources familiar with the matter, that Putin had "encouraged" Iran to accept a deal with the United States that would prevent the Islamic republic from enriching uranium.
The article "appears to be a new political defamation campaign aimed at exacerbating tensions around Iran's nuclear program", the Russian ministry of foreign affairs said on Sunday.
"Invariably and repeatedly, we have emphasised the necessity of resolving the crisis concerning Iran's nuclear program exclusively through political and diplomatic means, and expressed our willingness to help find mutually acceptable solutions," the statement read.
Tehran is suspected by Western countries and Israel of seeking to develop an atomic bomb, which it denies, defending its "non-negotiable" right to develop a civilian nuclear program.
Moscow has a cordial relationship with Iran's clerical leadership and provides crucial backing for Tehran but did not swing forcefully behind its partner even after the United States joined Israel's bombing campaign in June.
Publicly, Moscow has defended Tehran's right to use nuclear technology for civilian purposes but in recent months, Putin has also drawn closer to US President Donald Trump.
On June 13, Israel launched an unprecedented attack on Iran, triggering a 12-day war.
The conflict halted negotiations initiated in April between Tehran and Washington to frame Iran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions against Iran.
On June 22, the United States bombed the underground uranium enrichment site at Fordo, south of Tehran, and nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz.
The exact extent of the damage is not known.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
6 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Russian strikes kill six in Ukraine
KYIV: Russian drone and bomb fire killed at least six people across Ukraine's east and south, local authorities said Friday, as Russia resists US President Donald Trump's call to halt its invasion. Moscow has escalated long-range aerial attacks on Ukraine's towns and cities as well as frontline assaults and shelling over the past weeks, defying Trump's warning it could face massive new sanctions if no peace deal is struck. The latest strikes killed at least three people in the Dnipropetrovsk region – an important industrial mining territory under increasing pressure from Russia's attacks. 'Administrative buildings, a shop and private houses have been damaged,' Governor Sergiy Lysak said on Telegram after a morning drone attack caused a fire to break out in the region's Kamyanske district, where two were killed. Russia says it downed 73 Ukrainian drones, including 3 flying to Moscow A 52-year-old man was killed in another drone attack elsewhere in the region. And in the Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions – all of which are partially occupied by Russian forces – attacks killed another three people. Ukraine said Russia fired 35 long-range drones overnight – a relatively low number compared to the several hundred Moscow is capable of launching. Moscow said it shot down 73 Ukrainian drones over its territory, including 10 it said were heading for the capital Moscow.
Business Recorder
6 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Volodymyr Zelenskyy hails new EU sanctions on Russia as ‘essential and timely'
KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hailed the EU's new round of sanctions on Russia Friday as 'essential and timely', as Moscow intensifies strikes after invading his country almost three-and-a-half years ago. Russian strikes kill six in Ukraine 'This decision is essential and timely, especially now, as a response to the fact that Russia has intensified the brutality of the strikes on our cities and villages,' Zelenskyy said on social media.
Business Recorder
7 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Iran says Europeans have no grounds to trigger sanctions snapback
TEHRAN: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his European counterparts Friday they have no grounds for reactivating UN sanctions after they threatened to do so in coming months unless there is progress in nuclear talks. 'If EU/E3 want to have a role, they should act responsibly and put aside the worn-out policies of threat and pressure, including the 'snap-back' for which they (have) absolutely no moral (or) legal grounds,' Araghchi said on X. He added that 'any new round of talks is only possible when the other side is ready for a fair, balanced, and mutually beneficial nuclear deal.' The remarks came after Araghchi held a conference call with his British, French and German counterparts and European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. The European diplomats told Araghchi of 'their determination to use the 'snapback' mechanism – which allows for the reimposition of all international sanctions against Iran – in the absence of concrete progress' towards a new deal on Iran's nuclear programme 'by the end of the summer', the French foreign ministry said. French officials have previously indicated that means by the end of August. Last month, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that the Europeans would be 'justified' in seeking a snapback of UN sanctions lifted under a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and major powers, later abandoned by US President Donald Trump. 'Without a firm, tangible, and verifiable commitment from Iran, we will do so no later than the end of August,' he told reporters. Last week, Araghchi urged the Europeans to play 'a constructive role' on the nuclear issue. 'The threat of sanctions does not help diplomacy,' Araghchi told French newspaper Le Monde. There has been much speculation about the status of Iran's nuclear programme since Israel and and the United States bombed key facilities last month. A clause in the 2015 agreement allows for UN sanctions on Iran to be reimposed through a snapback mechanism in the event of non-compliance. But the deal expires in October giving the parties to it a fast looming deadline to invoke the clause. Iran and the United States held several rounds of nuclear negotiations through Omani mediators before Israel launched its 12-day war on June 13. Trump's decision to join Israel in striking Iranian nuclear facilities effectively ended the talks. Since the end of the hostilities, both Tehran and Washington have signalled willingness to return to the table, though Tehran has said it will not give up its right to the peaceful use of nuclear power. An adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in matter of state, said on Monday there would be no new nuclear talks with the United States if they were conditioned on Iran renouncing uranium enrichment.
