Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 25, 2025. Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday rejected the possibility of nuclear talks with the United States, which imposed new sanctions on Iran’s oil industry as part of the Trump administration’s so-called “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.

“There will be no possibility of direct talks between us and the United States on the nuclear issue as long as the maximum pressure is applied in this way,” Araghchi said during a joint press conference with his visiting Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

“We will not negotiate under pressure, threat, or sanctions,” he added.

The top Iranian official’s remarks came a day after the US Treasury Department announced new sanctions on Iran’s oil industry, targeting over 30 brokers, tanker operators, and shipping companies involved in transporting and selling Iranian petroleum.

The new oil sanctions were the latest to be imposed since US President Donald Trump reinstated his “maximum pressure” policy toward Tehran, aiming to cut the country’s crude exports to zero and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Earlier this month, however, Trump also expressed a willingness to talk to Iran’s leaders, stating his desire to reach a “nuclear peace agreement” to improve bilateral relations with Tehran while insisting that the Iranian regime must not develop a nuclear weapon.

Iran’s so-called “supreme leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rejected the idea of negotiating with Washington, calling such a move “unwise” and “dishonorable.”

Tuesday’s high-level meeting between Russian and Iranian officials took place in Tehran to discuss bilateral relations, regional developments, and the 2015 nuclear deal with major world powers that placed temporary restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

“On the nuclear issue, we will move forward with the cooperation and coordination of our friends in Russia and China,” Araghchi said during the press conference.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the views of both Russian and Iranian officials were in alignment regarding Iran’s nuclear program.

“Positions were aligned on the situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [the official name for the 2015 nuclear deal] on the Iranian nuclear program,” it said.

Iran has claimed that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes rather than building weapons. However, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reported last year that Iran had greatly accelerated uranium enrichment to up to 60 percent purity, close to the roughly 90 percent weapons-grade level.

At the time, the UK, France, and Germany said in a statement that there is no “credible civilian justification” for Tehran’s recent nuclear activity, arguing it “gives Iran the capability to rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons.”

As Russia also faces increasing sanctions from the West over its war in Ukraine, Moscow and Tehran have deepened their cooperation. Ukraine and its allies have accused Iran of supplying weapons to Russia, allegations Tehran has denied.

Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian signed a 20-year “comprehensive strategic partnership treaty” reinforcing their economic and military cooperation.

The bilateral cooperation between Tehran and Moscow comes at a time when Iran’s influence in the Middle East is waning, with the fall of long-time Iranian ally Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in Syria and Israel’s military successes against two of Iran’s terrorist proxies: Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

After the collapse of Assad’s regime, which was driven by an offensive led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, a former al-Qaeda affiliate, both Russia and Iran suffered a major setback in Syria despite years of investment in supporting their longtime ally during the civil war.

“Iran wants peace, stability, preservation of territorial integrity and unity, and the progress of Syria based on the will of the people,” Araghchi said on Tuesday, referring to Damascus’s new government.

During the press conference, Lavrov also referred to Syria’s new regime, saying, “We will do our utmost to ensure that the situation calms down and does not pose a threat either to the Syrian people … or to the people of neighboring states.”