Putin Meets Khamenei’s Top Adviser for Talks on Iran Nuclear Programme

Sun Jul 20 2025
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MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with Ali Larijani, top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader on nuclear issues, to discuss Tehran’s nuclear programme in the Kremlin on Sunday.

Moscow has a cordial relationship with Iran and provides crucial backing for Tehran but did not swing forcefully behind its partner even after the United States joined Israel’s massive bombing campaign on Iran in June.

Larijani “conveyed assessments of the escalating situation in the Middle East and around the Iranian nuclear programme”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of the meeting.

Putin had expressed Russia’s “well-known positions on how to stabilise the situation in the region and on the political settlement of the Iranian nuclear programme”, the spokesperson added.

Last week, Russia slammed a story by US news outlet Axios, citing anonymous sources that said Putin had “encouraged” Iran to accept a deal with the United States that would prevent the Islamic republic from enriching uranium.

Iran has consistently denied seeking a nuclear weapon, while defending its “legitimate rights” to the peaceful use of atomic energy.

European powers plan nuclear talks with Iran

Separately, a German diplomatic source, cited by AFP on Sunday, said that Britain, France and Germany are planning to hold fresh talks with Iran on its nuclear programme in the coming days.

The European powers, known as the E3, “are in contact with Iran to schedule further talks for the coming week”, the source said, cited by AFP, following warnings from the trio that international sanctions against Iran could be reactivated if Tehran does not resume negotiations.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency also reported that Tehran had agreed to hold talks with the three European countries, citing an unnamed source.

Consultations are ongoing regarding a date and location for the talks, the report said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held a call Friday with his British, French and German counterparts and European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, AFP reported.

During the call, the Europeans warned that if Iran did not return to talks soon, they would activate a “snapback” mechanism to reimpose sanctions lifted in a 2015 deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Iran and the United States had held several rounds of nuclear negotiations through Omani mediators before Israel launched its 12-day war against Iran on June 13.

However, US President Donald Trump’s decision to join Israel in striking Iranian nuclear facilities effectively ended the talks.

The 2015 deal between Iran and world powers, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), placed significant restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

But the hard-won deal began to unravel in 2018, during Trump’s first presidency, when the United States walked away from it and reimposed sanctions on Iran.

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