Can Russia Help End the Iran Conflict?

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Russian President Vladimir Putin today as the two countries pledged to deepen ties amid ongoing tensions with the United States.

Images shared on Araghchi’s Telegram channel showed him shaking hands with Putin at a table alongside senior officials from both governments.

Araghchi described the relationship between Moscow and Tehran as a “strategic partnership” that will “continue to strengthen,” according to remarks broadcast on Russian state television. He also told reporters in St. Petersburg that Iran was “standing up to the world’s greatest superpower [the US],” adding that Washington “has not achieved a single one of their goals.”

Meanwhile, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, described the talks as “useful,” saying they lasted about an hour and a half. 

Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said that Moscow was ready to act as a mediator in future peace negotiations.