TEHRAN – Deputy foreign ministers of Iran, China and Russia will meet in Beijing on Friday to discuss developments surrounding Tehran’s nuclear program and the removal of sanctions, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Wednesday.
The negotiations have been arranged within the framework of Iran’s constant consultations with various parties, the spokesman added.
The talks will also include issues of mutual concern for the three countries, regional and international developments, as well as cooperation through BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Baghaei said.
Ties between Iran and Russia have deepened, with a strategic cooperation treaty signed in January. Both have good relations with China.
China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu will chair the meeting, Mao Ning, a spokesperson of its foreign ministry, told a regular press conference on Wednesday.
The meeting will follow a closed-door gathering of the United Nations Security Council in New York the same day regarding Iran’s uranium enrichment. 
Last week, Russia said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov discussed Iran’s nuclear program and the removal of sanctions with its ambassador, Kazem Jalali, after reports that Russia agreed to help U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration in communicating with Iran.
Iran reached a deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States in 2015, that lifted sanctions on Tehran in return for curbs on its nuclear program.
But Washington quit the plan in 2018 during Trump’s first term, and Iran began moving away from its nuclear-related commitments.
China has said it supports Iran in safeguarding its legitimate rights and calling for an early resumption of the Iranian nuclear talks. 
A letter from Trump to Iran has been delivered by Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Trump, who said last week he had sent a letter to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei proposing talks. The Leader promptly responded that Tehran would not be bullied into talks with “excessive demands” and threats.
On Tuesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran would not negotiate with threats hanging over its head, telling Trump in an outburst to “do whatever the hell you want”.
Gargash met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday, media reports said.
The UAE, one of Washington’s key security partners and host to U.S. troops, also maintains warm ties with Tehran. Despite past tensions, business and trade links between the two countries have remained strong, with Dubai serving as a key commercial hub for Iran for more than a century.
In 2018, Trump exited Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and reimposed sanctions that have harmed its economy. 
Separately, Araghchi denounced a closed-door UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday about Iran’s nuclear work as a new process that puts into question the goodwill of states requesting it.
Six of the council’s 15 members - France, Greece, Panama, South Korea, Britain and the U.S. - requested the meeting over Iran’s stock of uranium.
Araghchi said that Iran would soon have a fifth round of talks with France, Britain and Germany - parties to Iran’s 2015 nuclear pact.
“Our talks with Europeans have been ongoing and will continue ... however, any decision by the UN Security Council or board of governors of the UN nuclear agency to pressure us will put under question the legitimacy of these talks,” Araghchi said.