Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Monday ahead of a scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian state media said.
During the meeting, Araghchi and Putin will focus on “coordinating exchanges and promoting joint projects at regional and international levels,” Tehran’s ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, said in a post on X Sunday.
Russia and Iran are long-time partners, and Russia has been an important diplomatic ally of Tehran throughout its war with the United States. The Kremlin has offered to store Iran’s enriched uranium and suggest it be stored or reprocessed in Russia, but President Trump has reportedly rejected the offer.
Beyond uranium, Iran and Russia signed a 20-year treaty in January 2025 that strengthens their economic, military, and political partnership. Russia views the US attack on Iran as an “unprovoked invasion,” but the important thing is that the agreement signed by the Iranian government and Russia did not amount to a mutual defense agreement.
In a recent telephone conversation with his Pakistani counterpart, Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov “highly appreciated” Islamabad’s mediation efforts between Iran and the United States, while expressing Russia’s “readiness to contribute.”
CNN reported in March that Russia was providing Iran with information on the locations and movements of U.S. troops, ships and aircraft, the first sign that Russia was seeking to become involved in the war, according to people familiar with U.S. intelligence reporting on the matter.
Russia was the last stop on Araghchi’s overseas tour, which also included talks with key mediators in Pakistan and Oman on Sunday.
