Iran's foreign minister said on a visit to Moscow Monday he was seeking "assurances" from the backers of the country's nuclear deal after the United States pulled out.

Russia is trying to keep the landmark 2015 accord alive in the wake of US President Donald Trump's decision, pushing Moscow into rare cooperation with Europe.

"The final aim of these negotiations is to seek assurances that the interests of the Iranian nation will be defended," Mohammad Javad Zarif said at the start of a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

After the talks, Zarif praised the "excellent cooperation" between Moscow and Tehran and said Lavrov had promised him to "defend and keep the agreement".

Zarif later said he was seeking "solutions in order for other countries, in particular those remaining in the agreement, to have relations with Iran without hindrance," in comments reported by the Iranian ISNA news agency.

Lavrov, for his part, said Russia and Europe had a duty to "jointly defend their legal interests" in terms of the deal.

Zarif's diplomatic tour took him to Beijing at the weekend and will see him visit Brussels later in the week, as the international backers of the agreement scramble to save it.

On Monday he also sent a letter to the United Nations in which he accused the US of showing a "complete disregard for international law" in pulling out of the deal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has already spoken with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about efforts to save the accord, after voicing his "deep concern" over Trump's decision.

And on Monday Putin met Yukiya Amano, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, telling him that Russia was "ready to continue to uphold the Iran nuclear deal despite the withdrawal of the United States".

- Renewed coordination? -

Trump's move to ditch the nuclear deal has infuriated Washington's allies in Europe as well as China and Russia.

"(European) cooperation with Russia, which until recently seemed impossible because of the Skripal (spy poisoning) case, with the expulsion of diplomats and the reduction of contact, is now receiving a fresh boost," said Andrei Baklitsky of the Moscow-based PIR Center nuclear safety NGO.

"The Europeans, after the withdrawal of the US from the deal, have found themselves forced to save the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action themselves," he told AFP, referring to the official name of the nuclear deal.

Moscow would have to play a key role in ensuring Tehran does not resume its nuclear programme, he added.

On Sunday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington still wants to work with Europe to counter Iran's "malign behaviour" and was working hard to thrash out a more wide-ranging deal with its European partners.

In talks with his counterparts from Britain, France and Germany, Pompeo "highlighted the good work that we have done over the past several months to address our common threats and said that he is hopeful we can continue strong cooperation moving forward," the State Department said.

But while he talked up the prospect of renewed coordination with America's allies, another top aide reminded Europe its companies could face sanctions if they continue to do business with the Middle Eastern power.

- Russia key regional player -

Russian efforts to save the accord will boost its role as a power player in the Middle East, after its intervention on the side of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.

This, along with its diplomatic moves to orchestrate an end to the Syrian conflict, has put Moscow at loggerheads with the US and Europe, which have intervened against the regime.

Merkel is set to visit Russia and meet Putin for a working visit in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Friday, while French President Emmanuel Macron will be in Saint Petersburg later in the month for an economic forum.

Iran has said it is preparing to resume "industrial-scale" uranium enrichment "without any restrictions" unless Europe can provide solid guarantees that it can maintain trade ties despite renewed US sanctions.

After long negotiations, Iran had agreed in July 2015 to freeze its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of punishing international sanctions.

The deal was negotiated between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany.

Russia and Iran once had difficult relations but have seen ties improve since the end of the Cold War.

The countries had sought to strengthen their business ties long before the 2015 agreement, despite international sanctions in place.

Analysts have suggested Russia could benefit economically from the US pull-out, as it is less exposed to the consequences of renewed sanctions than Europe.

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Trump pullout from Iran deal signals Mideast strategic shift
Paris (AFP) May 11, 2018
US President Donald Trump's rejection of an accord curbing Iran's nuclear activities and the escalation in hostilities between Iran and Israel that followed herald a new strategic dynamic in the Middle East that has heightened fears of greater conflict. While Europe is leading efforts to save the nuclear deal with Tehran, Iran's regional rivals Israel and Saudi Arabia both are behind Washington. "The result is a coalition that rather goes against their nature," said Denis Bauchard, Middle East e ... read more