MOSCOW (Dispatches) -- Iran has delivered a “peace initiative” for ending the Ukraine war, proposed by a European leader, to Russia, Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian said here Wednesday.
Standing next to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a news conference, Amir-Abdollahian confirmed that he had handed over the European proposal that he said was given to Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi.
“There are ideas to help establish peace and stop the fighting in Ukraine, and I shared these ideas with Mr Lavrov,” Amir-Abdollahian said.
He did not name the European leader behind the initiative or reveal any further details but said the proposal includes points on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and prisoners of war.
Recent shelling around the plant in southeastern Ukraine has spurred fears of a possible nuclear disaster and prompted the International Atomic Energy Agency to deploy experts to visit the site.
Russia and Ukraine have traded blame over the firefights, accusing each other of risking citizens’ safety.
Iran’s ISNA news website reported earlier on Wednesday that French President Emmanuel Macron was the leader who relayed the message to Tehran, but no officials have commented on the issue.
Muhammad Jamshidi, the political deputy to the Iranian president, tweeted on Wednesday that Amir-Abdollahian had “a peace initiative and an important message” from “a top western European leader”.
Since Russia’s military operation in Ukraine began on February 24 this year, Iran has relayed messages between Moscow and Kyiv several times, but this is the first publicized instance of Tehran delivering a message from Europe.
The Islamic Republic has repeatedly stated that fighting must stop through dialogue and refuses to condemn Moscow. Tehran says NATO expansion is the root of the problem.
Moscow is growing closer to Iran by, among other things, expanding trade, an issue that was stressed by Amir-Abdollahian and Lavrov on Wednesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Tehran in July, meeting Raisi and Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who told him NATO would have eventually started the Ukraine war had the 69-year-old “not taken the initiative”.
Amir-Abdollahian and Lavrov also discussed the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal.
The Iranian foreign minister said Tehran continues to review the latest U.S. comments on a “final”
European text proposed earlier this month, and still wants guarantees that it will enjoy the economic benefits promised under the deal.
“Russia supports reviving the nuclear deal and lifting the sanctions imposed against Iran,” Lavrov said.
Known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the deal put curbs on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting inhuman sanctions. But the U.S. unilaterally withdrew from the deal in 2018 and imposed sanctions, which prompted Iran to ramp up its nuclear energy program while maintaining they are strictly for peaceful purposes.
Raisi had emphasized earlier this week that an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards probe into alleged traces of man-made nuclear material found years ago on several Iranian nuclear sites must be closed before an agreement to restore the JCPOA can be agreed on.
Amir-Abdollahian said Iran is serious about the conclusion of a lasting agreement, adding that an agreement would not be out of reach if the U.S. acts “realistically” and the present text is reinforced.
“Our purpose is the conclusion of a good, strong, and lasting agreement,” he stressed, urging the opposite side to show realism and pragmatism.
In addition to bilateral relations, Amir-Abdollahian and Lavrov said they discussed Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
The minister hit out at the UN nuclear agency, urging it to stick to its “technical duty”, and drop the “political behavior” towards Iran.
He said Iran will inform the European Union’s coordinator of the talks about Iran’s position concerning the American response once “we have finalized our examination” of the text.
Amir-Abdollahian said he also discussed the status of bilateral relations with Lavrov, including Iran’s commercial, economic, transit, defensive, and security relations with Russia.
“We are pleased that the countries’ relations are progressing on the right direction,” the Iranian foreign minister said.
“We are prepared for the expansion of the economic cooperation using the available capacities,” he said, adding that the countries have ample capacity for the development of their bilateral ties.
The Iranian official also said a roadmap devising the path ahead of the countries’ strategic relations would be implemented “in the near future” following ratification by the nations’ respective parliaments.
Lavrov, for his part, said economic cooperation between the two countries amounted to $4 billion last year and is expected to increase next year.
He further expressed satisfaction with the way Russian and Iranian bilateral relations are developing, and reaching “a new qualitative level”, adding that the work on a comprehensive document between Russia and Iran is in its “final stage”.
The Russian foreign minister also announced that Iranian and Russian payment systems of Shetab and Mir would be connected “in the near future,” saying the countries had discussed the prospect on the central bank governor level.