China, Russia and Iran set to hold talks in Beijing as Trump pushes for new nuclear deal with Tehran

Hong Kong CNN —

China is hosting diplomats from Iran and Russia for talks on Tehran’s nuclear program Friday as Beijing aims to position itself as a power broker on an issue seen internationally as a pressing security concern.

China’s Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu will chair a meeting with counterparts from Iran and Russia in the Chinese capital “on the Iranian nuclear issue,” China’s Foreign Ministry announced earlier this week.

The meeting, expected to be attended by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkovand Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, comes as countries face pressure to find diplomatic solutions – or trigger a return to sanctions – as a key deadline from a 2015 Iran nuclear deal looms.

President Donald Trump, who pulled the United States out of that agreement during his first term in office, is also pushing for a new deal, while European powers have held multiple rounds of talks with Tehran in recent months on the issue.

There is an increasing sense of urgency around finding a diplomatic path to rein in Iran’s nuclear program amid conflict in the Middle East. The United Nations nuclear watchdog warns that Iran has rapidly expanded its stock of what is considered near-bomb-grade uranium. Iran denies it wants a nuclear bomb and insists that its nuclear energy program is “entirely peaceful.”

It’s onto this stage that China now steps with its own diplomatic push, which observers say fits with Beijing’s aim to position itself as an alternative global leader to the US – a goal Chinese leaders see more opportunity to achieve as Trump shakes up foreign policy with his “America First” agenda.

“China is increasingly motivated to deepen its involvement (in the Iran nuclear issue)