At a moment that Iran’s stocks of uranium are coming very close to nuclear weapons-grade, and as the Trump White House has resumed its ‘maximum pressure’ policy on Iran, China is set to host a meeting in Beijing with Russia and Iran.
Friday’s scheduled summit in Beijing will focus on the Iranian “nuclear issue” – according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement, involving both nations’ deputy foreign ministers.
China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu will chair the meeting, the statement described. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baqaei confirmed that topping the agenda will be “developments related to the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions.”
The UN atomic watchdog IAEA has recently warned that Tehran “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity. The Iranians are within reach of achieving weapons-grade level of roughly 90% – if they desire to pursue it.
“China has said it supports Iran in safeguarding its legitimate rights and calling for an early resumption of the Iranian nuclear talks,” Reuters has reported.
Late last week President Trump said he sent a formal letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader urging the restart of fresh nuclear talks, which the Iranians have scoffed at. The letter is still said to be en route via the UAE ambassador – after Iran initially said it never received such a letter.
Iranian leaders have several times since last week explained that they can’t trust any dialogue or deal with Washington after it pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal in 2018 (under the first Trump administration).
Meanwhile, China, Iran and Russia are growing more cooperative on the military front, having held the “Maritime Security Belt 2025” joint naval exercises in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz this week.
“For two days, the crews of the warships conducted both daytime and nighttime live-fire exercises, using heavy machine guns and small arms to engage targets simulating unmanned boats and aerial drones of a mock adversary,” a Russian statement said.
BREAKING:
After flexing military muscle near Iran. China, Russia, and Iran are now taking their alliance to the next level.
The trio is set to hold high-stakes nuclear talks in Beijing this Friday, with Iran’s nuclear program at the center of global attention. pic.twitter.com/Rkq4fOi6Y3
— Current Report (@Currentreport1) March 12, 2025
But interestingly, Trump has recently floated the idea that Russia could mediate an updated Iran nuclear deal. Moscow appears to have expressed openness, but is unlikely to ever demand that Tehran give up its program.
The Iranians have long been insistent it is only for peaceful nuclear energy purposes, however. The Ayatollah chimed in again on this point Wednesday, issuing the following on X:
If we had wanted to build nuclear weapons, the US wouldn’t have been able to stop us. The fact that we neither possess nor seek nuclear weapons is because we ourselves don’t want to.
— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) March 12, 2025
The Friday trilateral Beijing meeting will in a sense be a gathering of countries which are all sanctioned or are under US punitive measures in some way.
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