China to host Russia, Iran for nuclear talks as Trump letter reaches Tehran
The Cradle, March 12, 2025 ─
Iranian officials say that direct discussions with the US will be off the table as long as Washington persists in ‘bullying’ the Islamic Republic and issuing war threats.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry revealed on 12 March that Beijing will host high-level talks with Russia and Iran this week for negotiations on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu will chair the tripartite summit scheduled for Friday. Joining him will be Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi to “exchange views on Iran’s nuclear activities and regional security issues,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning stated on Wednesday.
A spokesman from Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the talks in Beijing would focus on “developments related to the nuclear issue and the lifting of sanctions.”
News of the summit came hours before Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed that Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic advisor to UAE President Mohammed Bin Zayed (MbZ), delivered a letter from US President Donald Trump addressed to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Trump said last week that he had sent a letter urging Khamenei to engage in negotiations for a new nuclear deal. In response, the Iranian leader stressed that Tehran would not be “bullied” into negotiations, considering Trump has reimposed “maximum pressure” sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
“The US president says, ‘We are ready to negotiate with Iran,’ and invites Iran to negotiations – this is a deception aimed at global public opinion,” Khamenei said on Wednesday. “We sat down for years and negotiated. The same person who signed the completed and finalized agreement then threw it off the table and tore it up … When we know they will not honor their commitments, what is the point of negotiating?” he added.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian echoed Khamenei’s recent warnings on Tuesday, telling Trump, “I personally will not sit with you; do whatever the hell you want.”
“We must have relationships with the world; we do not want to quarrel or fight with anyone, but we also will not bow down in humiliation before anyone … We will die with dignity, but we will not live in disgrace. We will sit down and talk if negotiations are conducted respectfully and based on mutual interests. However, the language of threats and force is absolutely unacceptable to us,” Pezeshkian said.
The upcoming tripartite summit in Beijing will follow a closed-door UN Security Council (UNSC) gathering in New York on Wednesday regarding Iran’s expansion of its stocks of 60 percent enriched uranium.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported last month that Iran significantly increased its stockpile of near-weapons-grade uranium since its previous report in November by 92.5 kilograms (203.9 pounds).
The summit will also follow the start of the 7th annual Maritime Security Belt naval drills conducted by the Iranian, Russian, and Chinese navies in the Gulf of Oman.