Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that Tehran is prepared to respond without delay if the United States honours its obligations under a provisional agreement signed in June, according to Iran's ISNA news agency.
Speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Pezeshkian said:
"If they take their step, we will respond immediately."
Putin meeting scheduled
Pezeshkian was due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the summit later on Tuesday.
The meeting comes as leaders from across Eurasia gather for the annual SCO summit, amid continuing tensions between Iran and the United States and ongoing geopolitical realignments across the region.
Seventeen leaders attend summit
A total of 17 heads of state and government are attending the gathering in Bishkek.
The SCO has increasingly been promoted by Beijing and Moscow as a platform capable of balancing Western influence, even as several member states continue to face major regional and international crises.
Putin is also scheduled to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with discussions expected to include the war in Ukraine.
China and Russia highlight partnership
On Monday, Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping used the summit to praise the growing ties between Moscow and Beijing.
Relations between the two countries have deepened since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
"Strategic cooperation between Russia and China is a model of interstate relations," Putin said.
Xi, for his part, referred to the "even more promising prospects" for Sino-Russian cooperation, which he said were being created through the joint efforts of both countries.
SCO presented as alternative platform
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation has been increasingly positioned by China and Russia as an alternative centre of international cooperation alongside Western-led institutions.
At the same time, the organisation's founding declaration states that it is "not an alliance directed against other states."
Source: CNA
