Russia's Lavrov aligns positions with Iran on nuclear programme

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Iran's top leaders aligned positions on issues around Iran's nuclear programme at talks in Tehran on Tuesday, Russia's Foreign Ministry said.

Lavrov discussed a wide range of bilateral and regional issues with both President Masoud Pezeshkian and his Iranian counterpart Seyed Abbas Araghchi, a ministry statement said.

"Positions were aligned on the situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian Nuclear Programmе," it said.

Russia is a signatory of the 2015 JCPOA deal alongside the US, China, France, Britain and Germany. The deal lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear activities.

Lavrov had earlier said in Tehran that Moscow was sure that diplomatic measures were still on the table when it came to resolving issues around Iran's nuclear programme.

Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, said last week that Iran continued to enrich uranium well beyond the needs for commercial nuclear use despite UN pressure to stop it.

Grossi told Reuters that while the pace of uranium enrichment had slowed slightly since the end of last year, Iran was still enriching at an elevated rate of around 7 kg of uranium per month to 60% purity.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons but no other state has enriched to that level without producing them.

Grossi said he wanted to visit Tehran next month for the first time in a year.

Russia and Iran have drawn closer in recent years, with Iran supporting Russia in its military campaign in Ukraine. The two sides signed a strategic partnership agreement in January.

Lavrov discussed a wide range of bilateral and regional issues during his visit, including Syria, Lebanon and Afghanistan and the Israel-Palestine conflict, the Russian foreign ministry said.

Russian news agencies reported that Lavrov later travelled on to Qatar.