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

In 2015, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program 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) emphasized 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 told reporters after the meeting.

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

Ma’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 program.

‘Two ways Iran can be handled’

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 US while being “threatened,” and Iran would not bow to U.S. “orders” to talk.

Iran was further enraged after six of the United Nations Security Council’s 15 members – the US, France, Greece, Panama, South Korea, and Britain – held a closed-door meeting this week to discuss its nuclear program. Tehran said the meeting was a “misuse” of the U.N. Security Council.

That meeting was also criticized by China, with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi saying on Friday that the “hasty” intervention by the Council was not helpful in building trust.

Despite Tehran’s defiant rhetoric, engaging with the US to hammer out a nuclear deal may be the more pragmatic option, with crippling sanctions weighing on the Iranian economy and stoking public unrest, according to Iranian officials.

Nuclear program

Iran has long denied that it is working on developing a nuclear weapon. But the International Atomic Energy Agency said last month that Iran was “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to near the roughly 90% weapons-grade level.

In February, Trump restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran that includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero in order to stop it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

“The Iranian nuclear program is peaceful in nature,” said Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Gharibabadi on Friday.

“It is under the surveillance of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Iran is receiving huge inspections from the IAEA, and our nuclear program has never been diverted to non-peaceful purposes.”

The main root cause of the current situation is the unilateral US withdrawal from the 2015 pact, Gharibabadi said.

China hopes all parties will meet each other halfway and resume dialog and negotiations as soon as possible, Wang told the Iranian and Russian ministers separately after the trilateral meeting.

The United States should show “sincerity” and return to talks with Iran as soon as possible, said Wang.

Hamas also said it would return the remains of four deceased hostages with American citizenship: Omer Neutra, Itay Chen, Gadi Haggai, and Judy Weinstein Haggai. Israeli officials previously confirmed the deaths of all four hostages named by Hamas.

US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff presented an updated American proposal in Doha on Wednesday. A source involved in the negotiations told the Post that the proposal discussed by Witkoff included the release of five living hostages and several deceased hostages in exchange for extending the ceasefire in Gaza for a few weeks.

In other words, Hamas’s current proposal is quite different from the American mediator’s proposal, the source added. The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on Friday that Hamas “continues to enact manipulations and psychological terror” as it “refuses to budge a millimeter” from its original demands.

An Israeli official told The Post that Hamas’s intention to release only hostages with American citizenships is “a manipulation intended to sabotage the negotiations…Hamas has not changed its position, despite American efforts, and despite our efforts to make concessions.”

The terrorist organization also said that they received a new offer for phase two of the ceasefire and hostage deal from American mediators yesterday and responded positively to it.

In response to Hamas’s statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a security consultation in the next hours, an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum stated that it welcomes the return of every hostage, “whether they come home for rehabilitation or burial.

“The return of any number of hostages must only be the beginning of an immediate and comprehensive deal to secure the release of all hostages,” the forum continued.

The forum stated that Trump’s commitment to bringing all the hostages home has given them hope “during this darkest of times.”

“As of today, 59 hostages remain. We pray every single day for a deal that brings every one of them home, immediately,” the forum concluded.

The forum also attacked Netanyahu after the Prime Minister’s Office said a cabinet meeting would be convened on Saturday evening “for a detailed briefing from the negotiating team, and to decide on steps to free the hostages and achieve all our war objectives.”

“The hostage families apologize for interrupting your Shabbat, but their loved ones do not have time to wait,” a statement read. “24 more hours in captivity amount to 24 more hours of torture and torment, and 24 hours of risking their deaths.”

US engaged in direct negotiations

Last week, it was initially reported that the Trump administration was engaged in direct negotiations with Hamas regarding the release of American hostages in Gaza, along with the potential for a broader agreement to end the war.

The talks, led by Adam Boehler, US President Donald Trump’s envoy for hostages, are unprecedented, as the US has never previously communicated directly with Hamas, Walla reported.

Currently, five American citizens are being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. Four have been declared deceased, while 21-year-old Edan Alexander is believed to be alive.