Boosting Bilateral Ties: Putin, Raisi Hold Talks
MOSCOW (Dispatches) --
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have discussed the need to continue diplomatic efforts to reach an agreement on reviving the 2015 Iran deal, according to the Kremlin.
In the last 14 months, Iran and Russia, in addition to four other countries, have been engaged in an ongoing diplomatic effort to bring the U.S. back into the Iran deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or the JCPOA.
The U.S. left the JCPOA in 2018 under Donald Trump, who also initiated a “maximum pressure” campaign against the Islamic Republic to force it to negotiate a “better deal.”
Trump’s successor, Joe Biden, has failed to deliver on his promise of rejoining the deal, causing an impasse in the negotiations by insisting on maintaining certain elements of Trump’s maximum pressure policy.
During a phone call on Wednesday, Raisi and Putin also expressed a desire to further boost bilateral relations, the Kremlin said.
President Putin also expressed his condolences over a train accident outside the city of Tabas in Iran early Wednesday, Russian state media RIA reported.