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At the Security Council, European diplomats appealed to Iran to accept the draft proposal on reinstating the nuclear deal that has been on the table for months.
2.2 In meeting with Putin Iran’s Raisi calls for trade independent of Western financial system
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met in Turkmen capital Ashgabat on June 29, with the former telling the latter he wishes to expand bilateral trade with Moscow and make that trade independent of the Western financial exchange system.
Raisi, a conservative who has been president of Iran for nearly a year, met with Putin on the sidelines of the sixth summit of the Caspian Sea's littoral states. Clearly referencing the might of the dollar and the US sanctions aimed at the Iranian and Russian economies, Raisi also remarked that an independent financial system would make it "impossible for any country to exert influence or pressure on it".
Iran wanted engagement with Russia within the framework of a "strategic relationship", added Raisi.
Putin, for his part, turned to the security cooperation between Moscow and Tehran. "We are in constant contact on political and security matters, including in critical areas of Syria," said the Russian leader.
Russia is a signatory to the stymied 2015 nuclear deal, or JCPOA, that Iran and the major powers say they want to revive if an agreement on how to do that can be found. The talks have been deadlocked since March. Though this week saw some indirect talks, brokered by the European Union, between the US and Iran in Qatar.
On June 30, Iran said it was ready for more such indirect talks with the US. Iran's ambassador to the United Nations told the UN Security Council that the Iranian negotiating team was "ready to engage constructively again to conclude and reach agreement.”
Majid Takht Ravanchi said the ball was in the US court, and if Washington "acts realistically and shows its serious intention to implement its obligations, the agreement is not out of reach.”
The three European countries that signed the JCPOA seven years ago, namely France, Germany and the UK, on June 30 urged Tehran to seize an offer that is on the table to reinstate the nuclear deal.
Britain, Germany, and France told the UN Security Council that negotiations to restore the JCPOA “have resulted in a viable deal being on the table since early March". They added that they regretted that Iran “has refused to seize this diplomatic opportunity and continued its nuclear escalation."
If the JCPOA is put back in place, Iran would limit its nuclear development programme in exchange for relief from heavy economic sanctions.
8 IRAN Country Report July 2022 www.intellinews.com