China to hold talks with Russia, Iran on 'nuclear issue' on Friday amid Tehran's tiff with Trump

China on Wednesday said it will hold talks with Russia and Iran over “nuclear issues”, the country’s foreign ministry said, adding that both the countries will send their deputy foreign ministers to Beijing for the meeting.

China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu will chair the meeting, Mao Ning, a spokesperson of its foreign ministry, told a regular press conference on Wednesday.

Moscow and Tehran have grown closer after the Russia-Ukraine war began in 2022, with both countries signing a strategic cooperation treaty signed in January. The two nations also share a good relationship with China.

The meeting will follow a closed-door gathering of the United Nations Security Council in New York the same day regarding Iran’s expansion of its stocks of uranium that are close to weapons-grade.

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Last week, Russia said that it would help the Trump administration in communicating with Iran regarding its nuclear program and the Islamic Republic’s support towards anti-US proxies.

The development comes after US President Donald Trump relayed the message to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on a phone call last month showing interest in Iran’s nuclear programme.

Tehran has long denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. However, the UN atomic watchdog IAEA has warned it is “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60 per cent purity, close to the weapons-grade level of roughly 90 per cent.

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Iran reached a deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States in 2015, that lifted sanctions on Tehran in return for curbs on its nuclear program.

But Washington quit the plan in 2018 during Trump’s first term, and Iran began moving away from its nuclear-related commitments.

Since returning to the White House, Trump has sent mixed messages regarding Iran. He has pledged to revive the “maximum pressure” strategy from his first term, which included reimposing sanctions and targeting Iranian security forces—such as the assassination of a top general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. At the same time, he has expressed a desire to “immediately” pursue a “verified nuclear peace agreement with Iran.”

With inputs from Reuters