China, Iran, Russia officials hold nuke talks

China hopes that all parties will work toward the same direction and resume dialogue and negotiation as early as possible. The United States should demonstrate political sincerity and return to talks at an early date,

Wang said

Abbas Araghchiforeign Minister

Ultimately, the United States should lift the sanctions,

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview published Thursday by the government's official newspaper

The three countries reiterated that political and diplomatic engagement and dialogue based on the principle of mutual respect remains the only viable and practical option in this regard,

Ma read

I said I hope you're going to negotiate because it's going to be a lot better for Iran, and I think they want to get that letter,

Trump said

In this context, the international community faces the challenge of seeking new solutions and approaches, and must not allow the US' unilateral actions to undermine all the consensus and mechanisms regarding international hotspot issues,

Liu said

Fu Congthe United Nations

Putting maximum pressure on a certain country is not going to achieve the goal,

Fu said, ... according to Reuters

Ma Zhaoxuexecutive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs

(China ... China, Russia and Iran) emphasised that the relevant parties should be committed to addressing the root cause of the current situation and abandoning sanction, pressure or threat of force,

China's Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu told reporters after the meeting

The Iranian nuclear programme is peaceful in nature,

said Iran's Gharibabadi on Friday

For Iran, (the meeting in China) is a symbolic opportunity. It can continue to show its alignment with Russia and China ... (and) continue to message that it seeks engagement,

Vakil said

The Russians and Iranians understand that this is a relatively new role that China is taking as a mediator for these larger international disputes. There’s a lot of realism about the extent to which China can actually be the architect of these negotiations,

said Batmanghelidj

China is increasingly motivated to deepen its involvement (in the Iran nuclear issue) to safeguard its interests, expand its regional influence and reinforce its image as a responsible global power,

said Tong Zhao, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank in Washington

The future policy directions of Russia and Iran will significantly influence China’s strategic options in the Middle East and beyond,

said Carnegie Endowments’s Zhao, pointing to this as one reason for Beijing to enhance its communication with Moscow and Tehran on such issues

Effectively, everyone’s competing to solve this issue,

said Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at the London-based Chatham House think tank

Such coordination also signals solidarity against potential US efforts to sow division among them,

he added

Fu Congthe United Nations

We still hope 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,

China’s UN Ambassador Fu Cong told reporters ahead of a special UN Security Council meeting on Iran’s nuclear program on Wednesday

What this reflects is China’s serious concerns that this crisis could accelerate in the Middle East if the Iran nuclear program is not dealt with through negotiations,

he said