Russian, Iranian FMs meet for bilateral, regional talks

By Muhammet Kursun

TEHRAN

The Russian and Iranian foreign ministers met on Friday in Italy’s capital Rome on the sidelines of a Mediterranean Dialogues conference in the city.

According to Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Sergey Lavrov and Mohammad Javad Zarif exchanged views on bilateral ties, the 2015 nuclear deal, regional issues, and recent developments in Syria and Yemen.

Iran signed the deal in July 2015 with the P5+1 countries -- the U.S., U.K., France, China, and Russia, plus Germany, and including the European Union.

Under the deal, the U.S. and other world powers agreed to lift some economic sanctions from Iran in return for it agreeing to rein in its nuclear program.

Tensions between Washington and Tehran have mounted since when U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew his country from the deal.

In August, the U.S. re-imposed the first round of economic sanctions on Iran, mainly targeting the country’s banking sector.

The second phase of sanctions, targeting Iran’s energy sector, came into effect on Nov. 5, although Washington granted temporary waivers to the eight largest purchasers of Iranian oil -- including Turkey -- for a 180-day period.