China and Russia on Friday stood by Iran after the United States demanded nuclear talks with Tehran, with senior Chinese and Russian diplomats saying dialogue should only resume based on mutual respect and all sanctions ought to be lifted.

In a joint statement issued after talks with Iran in Beijing, China and Russia also said they welcomed Iran’s reiteration that its nuclear programme was exclusively for peaceful purposes, and that Tehran’s right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy should be fully respected.

It could be recalled that in 2015, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions in a deal with the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.

However, in 2018, Donald Trump, a year into his first term as US president, pulled out of the pact.

“(China, Russia and Iran) emphasised that the relevant parties should be committed to addressing the root cause of the current situation and abandoning sanction, pressure or threat of force,” China’s Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said.

China, Russia and Iran also stressed the necessity of terminating all unlawful unilateral sanctions, Ma said.

Zhaoxu’s meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi came days after Tehran spurned US orders to resume dialogue over the nuclear programme.

Last week, Trump said he had sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei proposing nuclear talks, adding that “there are two ways Iran can be handled: militarily, or you make a deal”.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian responded that he would not negotiate with the U.S. while being threatened, and Iran would not bow to the US orders to talk.

Nuclear talks: China, Russia back Iran as Trump presses Tehran