Putin meets with Araghchi, praises Iranians for resisting US-Israeli pressure

MOSCOW — Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who praised the Iranian people for their steadfastness in the face of US and Israeli pressure and pledged to do “everything” possible to bring peace to the Middle East. Upon his arrival on Monday, Araghchi told Iranian media that he had traveled to Russia “with the aim of continuing close consultations between Tehran and Moscow on regional and international issues”. The top Iranian diplomat had said his meeting with Putin “will be a good opportunity to discuss developments in the war and review the latest situation”. “I am confident that these consultations and coordination between the two countries in this regard will be of particular importance,” he added. The visit follows an earlier meeting in Muscat with Omani officials, as Iran seeks to rally regional and international support for renewed negotiations. Russia has offered to mediate to try to help restore calm to the Middle East following US and Israeli strikes, which Moscow has strongly condemned. It has also repeatedly offered to store Iran’s enriched ⁠uranium as a way of defusing tensions, a proposal spurned by the United States. On Monday, Putin praised the Iranian people for battling to stay independent in the face of US and Israeli pressure and said Moscow would do all it could to help Tehran. “We see how courageously and heroically the Iranian people are fighting for their independence and sovereignty,” Putin told Araghchi, saying he hoped they could get through what he called a “difficult period” and that peace would prevail.” For our part, we will do everything that serves your interests and the interests of all the peoples of the region to ensure that peace is achieved as quickly as possible,” said Putin. Putin received Araghchi in the presidential library in Russia’s former imperial capital St Petersburg as sources from mediator Pakistan said work had not ‌halted ⁠to bridge gaps between the United States and Iran. Putin said he received a message from Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, last week, and asked Araghchi to convey to him that Russia intended to continue its strategic partnership with Tehran. That 20-year agreement was sealed last year. Russia is building two new nuclear units at Bushehr, the ⁠site of Iran’s only nuclear power plant, and Iran has supplied Russia with Shahed drones for use against Ukraine, the production of which Moscow has since localized. Araghchi, who said he wanted to brief Putin on the situation around ⁠his country, thanked Putin for Moscow’s support. “It has also been proven to all that Iran has friends and allies, such as the Russian Federation, who stand by Iran precisely in difficult times,” he ⁠said. Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, said that Moscow wanted to see the US and Iran continue negotiations. There should be no return to military action, he added, something he said was not in anyone’s interests. Washington and Tehran agreed to a temporary ceasefire on April 8 after more than a month of fighting that began with joint US and Israeli strikes on Iran. The truce, mediated by Pakistan, has since been strained by disputes over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and a US blockade on Iranian ports. Meanwhile, a parallel conflict involving Israel and Lebanon also threatens to complicate negotiations. Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has reiterated that Tehran will not enter negotiations while the blockade remains in place. This comes as the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces were continuing to implement the blockade, preventing vessels from entering or leaving Iranian waters. “American forces have directed 38 ships to turn around or return to port,” CENTCOM said on X.Trump said Iran had “offered a lot, but not enough”, while adding on Sunday that Iranian leaders “can come to us, or they can call us” if they wanted to resume talks. Araghchi earlier described discussions in Islamabad as “very productive” and said they included a review of “the specific conditions under which negotiations between Iran and the US could continue”.Pakistani officials remained hopeful that diplomacy could still succeed. “According to one diplomatic source, recent events have served as a catalyst, [reinforcing the view] that there needs to be a permanent end to hostilities,” an Al Jazeera correspondent reported from Islamabad. “We are being told here in Islamabad that we are inching towards a framework of sorts, which will provide a background to which all of these sides can come to an agreement – and not just the Iranians and the Americans, but essentially, the Gulf countries as well,” he said. The diplomatic push comes as Trump scrapped plans to send special envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner to Pakistan’s capital for talks with Iran on Saturday, citing “tremendous infighting and confusion” within Tehran’s leadership. — Agencies