Iranian Foreign Minister Arrives in Moscow for Talks With Putin After U.S. Strikes

 

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Mehr News Agency

 

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was expected to hold critical talks with President Vladimir Putin on Monday, just 48 hours after a major U.S. strike on Iran’s key nuclear facilities.

Israel launched airstrikes on Iran's military and nuclear program earlier this month, and Tehran has responded with its own salvos of rockets and drones. Scores of civilians have been killed in both countries since the air war began

While Russia has condemned the Israeli and U.S. strikes, it has not offered military assistance to Tehran, and it has downplayed its commitments under a strategic partnership agreement signed with Iran earlier this year.

“In this new dangerous situation... our consultations with Russia can certainly be of great importance,” Araghchi was quoted as saying by Russian state media upon his arrival in Moscow.

Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported Sunday that Araghchi would meet with Putin and other senior Russian officials to discuss “regional and international developments following the military aggression by the United States and the Zionist regime against Iran.”

Putin had initially floated the idea of mediating between Iran and Israel. On Friday, however, he appeared to walk back those efforts, saying he was merely “suggesting ideas” after U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed a Kremlin role in resolving the crisis.

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“We are by no means seeking to act as a mediator. We are simply suggesting ideas,” Putin said during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. “If those ideas appeal to both sides, we’ll only be glad.”

On Saturday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry condemned the U.S. strikes as “irresponsible,” after earlier warning Washington against any military intervention.