Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) (AFP) – Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday vowed to match any US move to return to a June deal aimed at ending their war, as he prepared to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at an international summit. The two allies were due to hold talks on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Kyrgyzstan, a bloc promoted by Russia and China as an alternative to Western power.
Pezeshkian told the summit that if the United States returns to the deal aimed at ending months of hostilities, Iran “will immediately take reciprocal action,” according to the Iranian presidency’s website. The deal, meant to set the stage for final peace talks, has collapsed as both sides accused each other of violating its terms. Pezeshkian also warned Tuesday that a return by the United States to “a policy of pressure and threats” risked derailing diplomatic efforts to end the war. It began in late February with the US and Israeli attacks on Iran that killed former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Pezeshkian’s remarks came after Iran and the United States resumed exchanging fire on Monday following more than a month of relative calm, with the Strait of Hormuz a key point of contention. Tehran has maintained its closure of the strategic waterway, while saying it would return to its commitments under the June deal, which included reopening Hormuz, if the United States did the same.
– ‘A multipolar world’ –
Putin met Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday at the SCO summit, which is also playing host to leaders of countries including Turkey, India, and Pakistan. The summit takes place four-and-a-half years into Moscow’s Ukraine invasion and six months into the war between Washington and Tehran. Xi said Russia-Chinese ties had become “more solid” and that their “prospects will be even brighter,” while Putin said cooperation was “successfully developing on all fronts.” Russia’s economy has become increasingly dependent on China since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Moscow has also massively deepened military and economic ties with Iran, despite US President Donald Trump warning both Moscow and Beijing against arming the Islamic republic.
The SCO has historically focused on economic issues but has gained momentum in other fields in recent years under Moscow’s and Beijing’s leadership. “The UN Charter must continue to serve as a key source of international law,” Putin told the summit on Tuesday. But he added that “it is clear that new multilateral regional structures … are organically integrating into the architecture of a multipolar world alongside the United Nations.” On top of its 10 members, it now has 15 so-called “dialogue partners,” including Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, and two observer countries: Afghanistan and Mongolia.
© 2024 AFP
