Iran Foreign Minister to Visit Moscow for Talks Ahead of Rome Meeting

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit Moscow this week to discuss nuclear negotiations in a meeting with Russian officials, prior to a new round of indirect talks with the U.S. planned in Rome. The visit follows a weekend of indirect discussions in Oman between Araghchi and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, which was the first high-level engagement since the fall of the 2015 nuclear deal.

The discussions are intended to revive attempts to have a new nuclear deal regarding Iran's nuclear program, which has grown since former U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 agreement and reinstated sanctions. Trump recently warned Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that military action could occur if diplomacy failed but suggested that negotiations should be renewed. Iran says it does not seek nuclear weapons and that its nuclear program is peaceful, something that is backed up US intelligence agencies.

Russia, the original deal signatory and a key Iranian ally, has backed diplomatic solutions and threatened military implications of a conflict would be "catastrophic." Araghchi's planned meetings in Moscow with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are focused on how to coordinate approaches to the negotiations before the next talks, tentatively scheduled for April 19, in Rome, which Italy has committed to hosting, but the location is still not finalized by Iran. Iran has made clear its meetings will only discuss sanctions relief and limits on Iran’s nuclear program, stating regional influence and missile capabilities are “red lines.”