FILE PHOTO: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (C), his former Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif (L) and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu shake hands at the end of a joint press conference following their talks in Moscow on April 28, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Alexander NEMENOV
MOSCOW — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian that talks on the Iranian nuclear deal in Vienna should restart as soon as possible, the Russian foreign ministry said on Thursday.
“The Iranian side perceived this signal with due seriousness,” the ministry’s statement read.
Iran has accelerated its enrichment of uranium to near weapons-grade, the U.N. atomic watchdog said in a report, a move raising tensions with the West as both sides seek to resume talks on reviving Tehran’s nuclear deal.