Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attend a news conference, a day ahead of the first meeting of the new Syrian Constitutional Committee, at the Untied Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Oct. 29, 2019. Photo: Reuters / Denis Balibouse.

i24 News – Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Tuesday after negotiations regarding a nuclear deal stalled as Russia presented new demands.

Lavrov said that Moscow received guarantees from the United States on its ability to trade with Tehran as part of ongoing talks to salvage the Iran nuclear deal.

“We received written guarantees. They are included in the text of the agreement itself on the resumption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program,” Lavrov told reporters during a press conference.

On March 5, Russia demanded guarantees that sanctions imposed over the invasion of Ukraine would not damage trade with Iran. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken dismissed the demands as “irrelevant,” saying that they “just are not in any way linked together.”

Amir-Abdollahian noted after the meeting that there was no connection between the events in Ukraine and talks in Vienna, according to Haaretz.

Before the meeting, Amir-Abdollahian expressed hope that the visit would lead to Russia’s support for a “good, stable and strong nuclear agreement,” Iranian news agency ISNA reported.

The current round of nuclear negotiations started in November between Iran and Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia, with the US taking part indirectly.