Dedov told Russia’s Ria Novosti that according to “available information,” Western countries were trying to leave out Russia and China from negotiations with Iran, according to a Persian-language report on IRNA.

He did not provide details.

It was also unclear what negotiations Dedov was referring to. Iran is currently not involved in negotiations with any country on a new agreement over its peaceful nuclear activities. A deal that Iran did reach with originally six countries, including Russia and China, is effectively comatose over measures by the United States to hinder its implementation.

The United States’ then-President Donald Trump pulled America form the deal in 2018. He was generally believed to want a deal of his own. The Iran deal had been negotiated by his predecessor, Barack Obama. Iran refused to reopen talks into a done deal and, since Trump returned to office for a non-consecutive second term in January, has been wary of negotiations because of the U.S.’s past record.

On February 7, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei referred to that record and said negotiating with the perfidious United States government would be unwise.

Dedov, the Russian ambassador, said he hoped that negotiations “about the nuclear deal with Iran” would continue within the framework of the P5+1, which refers to the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — including the United States — and Germany.

“Without Moscow and Beijing,” he said, “these negotiations would never reach their goal.”

Iran-Russia ties ‘strong’

He said relations between Moscow and Tehran were so strong that it would be very unlikely for any outside development to affect them.

He highlighted the significance of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty, which was signed between Iran and Russia in January and described it as a landmark in the history of the two countries’ relations.

That treaty was signed by Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow on January 17.