External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Iran’s top diplomat warned Friday (December 27, 2024) against “destructive interference” in Syria’s future and said decisions should lie solely with the country’s people, writing in Chinese State media as he visited Beijing.

Abbas Araghchi touched down in the Chinese capital on Friday afternoon, Iranian State media reported, to begin his first official visit to the country since being appointed foreign minister.

China and Iran were both supporters of ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.

Assad fled Syria this month after an Islamist-led offensive wrested city after city from his control, with the capital Damascus falling on December 8.

Iran “considers the decision-making about the future of Syria to be the sole responsibility of the people… without destructive interference or foreign imposition,” Mr. Araghchi wrote in a Chinese-language article in People’s Daily published on Friday.

He also emphasized Iran’s respect for Syria’s “unity, national sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

Iran’s supreme leader — a key backer of Assad’s administration — predicted on Sunday “the emergence of a strong, honourable group” that would stand against “insecurity” in Syria.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Syria’s young men would “stand with strength and determination against those who have designed this insecurity and those who have implemented it, and God willing, he will overcome them”.

In People’s Daily, Araghchi said supporting the Syrian people was a “definite principle (that) should be taken into consideration by all the actors”.

Suitable time

Beijing had also built strong ties with Assad — he met President Xi Jinping in China last year, where the two leaders announced a “strategic partnership”.

China has affirmed its support for the Syrian people and has said it opposes terrorist forces taking advantage of the situation to create chaos.

Araghchi’s two-day visit will include talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry.

China is Iran’s largest trade partner, and a top buyer of its sanctioned oil.

Xi pledged in October to increase ties with Iran during talks with his counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian in Russia on the sidelines of a BRICS summit.

Araghchi told reporters in a video published by Iranian state media as he arrived in Beijing that the visit was taking place “at a very suitable time”.

“Now it is natural that there are sensitive situations, both the region has various tensions, and there are various issues at the international level, also our nuclear issue in the new year will face a situation that needs more consultations,” he said.

“The invitation of our Chinese friends was for this reason, that at the beginning of the new year… we should think together, consult and be ready for the challenges that will come.”

He wrote in his editorial that Iran and China shared the “common view” that calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza was the biggest priority in the Middle East.

Iran is set to meet with Britain, France and Germany for talks on Friday (November 29, 2024) on its nuclear programme after the three governments joined with the United States to have Tehran censured by the U.N. atomic watchdog.

Last week’s chiding prompted a defiant response from Tehran, but its officials have since signalled a willingness to engage with others ahead of the return of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, whose last administration pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” against the Islamic republic.

Iranian diplomat Majid Takht-Ravanchi, who serves as the political deputy to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, is scheduled to represent Iran in Friday’s talks.

He will meet beforehand with Enrique Mora, deputy secretary general of the European Union’s foreign affairs arm, according to the IRNA State news agency.

Last week, the 35-nation board of governors of the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted a resolution condemning Iran for its lack of cooperation on nuclear issues.

Iran described as “politically motivated” the resolution brought by Britain, France, Germany and the United States.

In response, Tehran announced the launch of “new advanced centrifuges” designed to increase its stockpile of enriched uranium.

Tehran’s willingness to sit down with the three European countries so soon after the censure comes just weeks before Mr. Trump is set to return to the White House.

During his first term, Trump focused on re-imposing heavy sanctions on Iran following the United States’ unilateral withdrawal from a landmark 2015 nuclear deal three years after it was established.

That agreement between Tehran and major powers aimed to give Iran relief from crippling Western sanctions in exchange for limiting its nuclear programme to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

Tehran has consistently denied any intentions of pursuing atomic weapons.

In retaliation for the U.S. withdrawal, Tehran has reduced its compliance with the deal, raising its uranium enrichment levels to 60 percent — close to the 90% required for a nuclear bomb.

For Tehran, the goal of the talks on Friday is to avoid a “double disaster” scenario, in which it would face renewed pressures from both Trump and European nations, according to political analyst Mostafa Shirmohammadi.

He noted that Iran’s support among European nations had been eroded by allegations it offered military assistance for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Iran has denied these accusations and hopes to mend relations with Europe, while also maintaining a firm stance.

Legal obligations

The IAEA’s censure resolution urged Iran to “fulfil its legal obligations” under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) ratified in 1970, which requires member states to declare and maintain their nuclear materials under IAEA supervision.

In response, Foreign Minister Araghchi, who was instrumental in the nuclear negotiations in 2015, said Iran was commissioning “several thousand advanced centrifuges”.

The head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, Mohammad Eslami, said Wednesday that they had begun inserting gas into the centrifuges.

Centrifuges work by rapidly spinning uranium gas to increase the proportion of the fissile isotope U-235.

Iran insists on its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, but according to the IAEA, it is the only non-nuclear-weapon state enriching uranium to 60 percent.

Under the 2015 accord — which will expire in October 2025 — Iran’s enrichment was capped at 3.67%.

In an interview published on the eve of the talks, Araghchi warned frustration in Tehran over unmet commitments, such as lifting sanctions, was fuelling debate on whether the country should alter its nuclear policy.

“We have no intention to go further than 60% for the time being, and this is our determination right now,” he told Britain’s The Guardian newspaper.

But, he added, “there is this debate going on in Iran, and mostly among the elites… whether we should change our nuclear doctrine” as so far it has proven to be “insufficient in practice”.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final authority in Iran’s decision-making, has issued a religious decree, or fatwa, prohibiting the use of atomic weapons.

Iran’s nuclear programme dates back to the late 1950s when the United States, then an ally, signed a civil cooperation agreement with Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.