Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday that Tehran and Moscow have cooperated more closely than ever, at a time when Russia is looking for a role in mediating the Middle East war.
Araghchi made the remark after hosting his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in Iran on Monday. It was Lavrov’s first visit since the conflict broke out.
Araghchi lists topics from Lavrov’s Tehran talks
In a post on X, Araghchi said the discussions ranged from Europe to West Asia, naming Lebanon, Palestine, Ukraine and Yemen. He added that the two sides also concentrated on widening economic and nuclear cooperation.
“Never in our history have Iran and Russia worked as closely as now,” he wrote.
Before the trip, Lavrov said Moscow’s efforts were “aimed at preventing the return of a large-scale war”, while talks between Washington and Tehran remain stalled. Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that Moscow was prepared to contribute to mediation.
Fighting persists around the Strait of Hormuz
The war began in February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran. A ceasefire in April and a US-Iran memorandum of understanding in June have not halted fighting in and around the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran claims control of the waterway, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil normally flows, and regularly targets ships that pass without its authorisation. Washington, in turn, has maintained a naval counter-blockade on Iranian ports.
Russia’s foreign ministry said the talks would focus on ways to resolve the acute crisis it blamed on the unlawful aggression of the US and Israel against Iran. The ministry said the war had damaged stability and security “not only in the near and Middle East, but also on a global scale”.
