Iran dispatches senior official to China amid talks push with US
Ahead of his trip to Beijing, Kazem Gharibabadi met with the Russian ambassador to Iran on Tuesday.
A senior Iranian Foreign Ministry official and nuclear negotiator traveled to Beijing on Wednesday amid a rapid uptick of diplomatic contacts among Iranian, Chinese and Russian officials as Iran and the United States prepare for renewed talks on Friday.
What happened: Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, left for Beijing on Wednesday, according to Iranian state news agency IRNA. While there, he will hold consultations “with senior Chinese officials,” IRNA wrote, without specifying which officials he will be meeting with.
Gharibabadi is set to “convey a message” from Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to Chinese President Xi Jinping during the visit.
The Iranian diplomat has played a key role in Iran’s nuclear file, including as part of the nuclear negotiating team and as Iran’s former ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
His talks with Chinese officials are expected to focus on “issues of mutual interest and bilateral cooperation,” according to IRNA.
Just a day earlier, on Tuesday, Gharibabadi met with Russia's ambassador to Iran, Alexey Dedov. The two discussed “issues and developments of shared concern,” according to IRNA.
Background: Gharibabadi’s visit comes amid a flurry of Iranian engagement with both China and Russia — two crucial partners for Iran — at a moment when the United States and Iran must choose between either restarting talks toward reaching a nuclear deal or risking a further buildup of tensions.
Last Wednesday, Trump announced he had sent a US naval fleet to the region, threatening an attack if Iran doesn’t make a deal with the United States.
At a briefing in Washington on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Elizabeth Hagedorn that in order for talks to be successful, they must cover Iran’s ballistic missiles, proxy forces, treatment of its citizenry and nuclear program.
“I'm not sure you can reach a deal with these guys, but we're going to try to find out,” Rubio said.
Talks between Iran and the United States are expected to take place on Friday. Senior officials from both sides were originally expected to meet in Istanbul, but Iranian officials are seeking to move the location to Oman, regional officials told Al-Monitor's Elizabeth Hagedorn. Axios reported on Wednesday, however, that the United States told Iran it wouldn't agree to change the location or the format of the talks. Later on Wednesday, Israel's N12 reported that the talks had been cancelled.
Know more: President Xi held a video phone call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Tuesday, during which, according to Russian state media, Putin said that China-Russia relations were a “stabilizing” force amid global turbulence. Several hours later, Xi held a phone call with US President Donald Trump. In a post to Truth Social following the call, Trump said that the two had discussed “the current situation with Iran.”
Last Friday, Putin met with Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, in Moscow. Two days later, on Sunday, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu arrived in China, where he met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
