Iran to hold talks with Chinese, Russian partners at summit

Audio By Carbonatix

Enlarge

DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran said it will hold talks with its main Asian partners, Russia and China, on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit on Tuesday, as Tehran looks for support following a 12-day air war with Israel last month.

“We will have bilateral meetings with the Chinese foreign minister, which naturally has its own importance in the current situation, as well as with the Russian foreign minister,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Telegram.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is a 10-nation Eurasian security and political grouping whose members include China, Russia, India, Pakistan and Iran. Tianjin in northern China is hosting the 25th SCO Foreign Ministers meeting.

In June, Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities which they said were part of a nuclear programme geared toward weaponisation. Tehran denies having any such plans.

Since the re-imposition of American sanctions on Iran during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term, Tehran has deepened ties with both Moscow through a 20-year strategic pact and Beijing, which buys as much as 90% of Iranian oil exports.

“The SCO is gradually opening up its place in the global arena, meaning it is gradually going beyond the regional arena, and it has many different issues on its agenda, including in the economic, political and security fields,” Araqchi wrote.

(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Andrew Heavens)