Description: Foreign Ministers from Iran and Russia are set to join their Chinese counterpart on Friday, 14 Mar, to discuss Iran’s nuclear plans. Joint talks would also be held in a closed off session at the UN headquarters in New York at the request of France, Greece, Panama, South Korea, Britain and the US. Strategic relations between China, Russia and Iran have significantly strengthened since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 as the three countries deepened cooperation on key geopolitical issues. The talks would serve as a starting point going forward since reports indicated that Iran was close to developing weapons grade uranium for their nuclear program. The UN allies would discuss whether to impose the so-called snap back wholesale sanctions on Iran in order to prevent the country from developing its nuclear capabilities, while China and Russia would devise a plan to avoid possible sanctions imposition.
Impact: Iran’s uranium enrichment is deemed as one of the largest security issues on the Asian continent by Western allied countries. The strategic partnership with Russia and China could enable the country in pursuing its long-term nuclear ambitions, however developing substantial nuclear capacities is highly improbable for the time being. Russia and China would aim at positioning Iran’s nuclear ambitions as a constant threat in order to curb regional interests from the US and its allies. Currently the country is in a precarious geopolitical situation with limited resources for soft and hard power influence in the region and is expected to oppose any kind of agreement that would involve making concessions in regard to its nuclear ambitions despite the threat of reimposition of sanctions.