Iran hopeful nuclear talks will resume as Russian FM visits

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Tehran was hoping that talks with major world powers over the revival of the Iran nuclear deal "would reach the point of an agreement in a near future," as he stood next to his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, at a joint press conference in Tehran June 23. The Iranian minister, however, conditioned such progress upon the United States adopting a "realistic" approach.

The United States and Iran were indirectly engaged in negotiations over the 2015 accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). However, more than a year of diplomacy that also involved other JCPOA signatories — the United Kingdom, France, Germany, China and Russia — was suspended in March.

Amir-Abdollahian told reporters that the Russian foreign minister had thrown Moscow's blessing behind "Iran's political stance" in the talks, and its support for a resurrected deal, should it inch closer to the final stage.

Iran's state media also quoted Lavrov as saying that the Kremlin "is seeking to have the US mistake corrected," a reference to Washington's 2018 withdrawal from the JCPOA, which he criticized as a violation of international law.