ISTANBUL: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday said he will travel to Moscow in the coming hours for urgent talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday after the United States launched airstrikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities.
Speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the OIC summit in Istanbul, Araghchi said the talks would take place on Monday morning and would focus on the escalating regional crisis.
“I’m going to Moscow this afternoon” and will hold “serious consultations with the Russian president tomorrow” morning, Araghchi said.
Araghchi emphasised the “strategic partnership” between Iran and Russia. “We always consult with each other and coordinate our positions,” he said.
The Foreign Minister noted that Iran has kept both Russia and China regularly informed about the recent indirect talks with the United States over the past two to three months. He emphasized that Iran has closely coordinated its positions with Russia on all key matters, AzerNews reported.
Late on Saturday, US President Donald Trump said that the US “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s three nuclear facilities.
Russian Foreign Ministry, in a statement, strongly condemned the “irresponsible” US strikes on three nuclear facilities in Iran, and said it “grossly” violated international law, the UN Charter and UN Security Council resolutions.
Amid the efforts at a negotiated settlement over Tehran’s nuclear programme, the Kremlin has consistently voiced strong opposition to any notion of regime change in Iran.
Iran on Sunday vowed to avenge the US bombing of three of its major nuclear facilities, saying the American strikes will have ‘everlasting consequences’.
The reaction by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi came hours after the US struck Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan using ‘bunker buster’ bombs, which were dropped by B-2 bombers.
The US has committed a ‘grave violation’ of the United Nations Charter, international law and the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) by attacking Iran’s peaceful nuclear installations, Araghchi said.
“The events this morning are outrageous and will have everlasting consequences. Each and every member of the UN must be alarmed over this extremely dangerous, lawless and criminal behaviour,” he said.
The Iranian foreign minister said Tehran reserves ‘all options’ to defend its ‘sovereignty, interest, and people’.
