Russian, Chinese foreign ministers speak for balanced deal on Iran’s nuclear program

LAUSANNE, March 30. /TASS/. Russia and China have confirmed their drive to render an all-embracing assistance in the process of reaching a balanced agreement on the controversial Iranian nuclear program, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi held a bilateral meeting on Sunday night on the sidelines of another round of talks between Tehran and the P5+1 international negotiators in Switzerland’s Lausanne. "The ministers verified their positions on the key aspects of the current negotiating process on the settlement of the Iranian nuclear program and confirmed their drive toward the balanced agreement, which complies with interests of all parties involved in the negotiations, as well as their readiness to provide further support in reaching the agreement," the ministry said on its FaceBook account. "The ministers also discussed aspects of the Russian and Chinese cooperation, including on the international arena," the ministry said adding that the top diplomats also "exchanged opinions on the developments in the Middle East." The P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, and France plus Germany) and Tehran agreed earlier in the year to extend the deadline for an agreement in the talks on Iran’s nuclear program to June 30. The previous round of the Iranian nuclear talks in Lausanne was held during six days - between March 15 and March 20 - with daily consultations between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Both the representatives of Washington and Tehran have repeatedly said that the negotiations in Lausanne were successful. Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said the sides had agreed on 90% of technical issues. The US presidential administration said however the negotiations had less than a 50% chance of success. The issue of lifting sanctions against Iran is one of the key stumbling blocks at the negotiations. Tehran demands their full and immediate lifting while Washington first wants to get firm guarantees that the Iranian nuclear program has absolutely peaceful purposes and this should be confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts. Iran says it needs nuclear power to generate electricity, but Western powers led by the United States claim Iran’s eventual aim is to create nuclear weapons. Read more