China & Russia declare joint stance on Iranian nuclear program as three powers reject Western sanctions

China and Russia stated their support for Iran, calling for an end to Western sanctions on the regime after a tripartite meeting in Beijing last weekend.

The meeting, dubbed the “Evil Empire Summit” by ALL ISRAEL NEWS Editor-in-Chief Joel Rosenberg, was attended by the deputy foreign ministers of the three countries, and focused on the Iranian nuclear ambitions.

According to a joint statement, China, Russia and Iran “emphasized the necessity of terminating all unlawful unilateral sanctions,” China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said, with Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov Sergey Alexeevich and Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi flanking him.

“The three countries reiterated that political and diplomatic engagement and dialogue based on the principle of mutual respect remain the only viable and practical option in this regard,” Ma said, emphasizing that the “root causes” of the situation were “sanctions pressure and threats of force.”

China and Russia “welcome Iran’s reaffirmation of the peaceful nature of its nuclear program,” according to the statement.

Ahead of the meeting, Rosenberg warned they would "strategize how to help protect the wicked Iranian regime from crushing new economic sanctions designed to punish their illegal, relentless, and incredibly dangerous effort to enrich enough uranium to build an entire arsenal of nuclear warheads."

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have ratcheted up in recent weeks.

Last week, Khamenei said Iran would not be bullied into negotiations, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump revealed he had sent a letter to Khamenei proposing talks on a new nuclear deal. 

“Some bully governments – I really don’t know of any more appropriate term for some foreign figures and leaders than the word bullying – insist on negotiations,” Khamenei said, adding, “Their negotiations are not aimed at solving problems, they aim at domination.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian followed up Khamenei’s comments by telling the U.S., “Do whatever the hell you want.”

“It is unacceptable for us that they [the U.S.] give orders and make threats. I won’t even negotiate with you,” Pezeshkian said.

On Monday, Trump threatened to attack Iran if the Houthi terror group in Yemen resumed its attacks. “Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon, from this point forward, as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of IRAN, and IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!”

The relations between China, Russia and Iran have been getting closer over the past years. China and Russia are two of the main buyers of Iranian oil, and Iran has provided Russia with thousands of drones for its war against Ukraine.

The countries also held a joint, annual naval drill in the northern Indian Ocean last week.

Regarding the nuclear issue, China has long insisted on a return to the failed JCPOA agreement. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday reiterated China’s commitment to the agreement as “the basis for new consensus.”

Under the terms of the agreement signed in 2015, the Western countries have until this October to activate the “snapback” of broad sanctions against Iran which were stopped as part of the JCPOA.

Last week China’s U.N. Ambassador Fu Cong briefed reporters that his country hopes “that we can seize the limited time we have before the termination date in October this year, in order to have a deal, a new deal so that the JCPOA can be maintained,” ahead of a special UN Security Council meeting on Iran’s nuclear program on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Russia has offered to mediate in talks between the U.S. and Iran amid a cautious thaw in the relations between Moscow and Washington.

Last week, Russia announced that Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov met with Iran’s ambassador Kazem Jalali to talk about the Iranian nuclear program.