With fighting raging in Iraq and Ukraine, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif traveled to Moscow to meet his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on Aug. 29. Notwithstanding an evident lack of new agreements, the two top diplomats stressed the close alignment of their perspectives on key issues, including ongoing talks on Iran’s nuclear program, their opposition to the Islamic State (IS) and support for a political settlement of Syria’s continuing civil war. Nevertheless, some important differences clearly remain.
Predictably, Lavrov reiterated Moscow’s support for Iran’s right to enrich uranium, stating, “Russia consistently advocates such a decision that would be based on respect for Iran’s right for peaceful nuclear activities, including uranium enrichment, with all the peaceful activities placed under [International Atomic Energy Agency] control." Likely referring to US and European reluctance to reach an agreement that permits enrichment, he cautioned Western negotiators against pressing Tehran too hard to advance their own objectives at Iran’s expense as the Nov. 24 deadline for a deal approaches.
