Lavrov in Iran as Moscow looks to mediate in war
TEHRAN
This file photo shows Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (R), and Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (L) shaking hands during a meeting in Moscow, Russia.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Iran on Oct. 19 in his first visit since the outbreak of the Middle East war as Moscow seeks to play a mediating role.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said that the trip would focus on “regional and international developments.”
Lavrov was scheduled to meet Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and hold talks with his counterpart Abbas Araghchi.
The veteran diplomat has said Moscow’s efforts are “aimed at preventing the return of a large-scale war,” with talks stalled between Tehran and Washington.
His visit comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin told Pezeshkian in early October that Moscow was prepared to contribute to mediation efforts.
Russia and Iran, two of the most heavily sanctioned nations in the world, maintain close ties. Their military and economic cooperation has only increased since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In January 2025, Pezeshkian and Putin signed a 20-year strategic partnership treaty in Moscow, covering cooperation in defense, security, energy, trade and transportation.
The agreement also provides for closer coordination on regional and international issues, although it does not establish a mutual defense obligation.
The Middle East war began in February with U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. Despite a ceasefire in April, followed by a U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding in June, hostilities in and around the Strait of Hormuz have not stopped.
Iran claims control over the strategic waterway — through which one-fifth of the world’s hydrocarbons pass in normal times — and regularly targets vessels that cross without its authorisation.
In response, Washington has been maintaining a naval counter-blockade on Iranian ports.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said discussions during Lavrov’s visit were expected to focus on “ways to resolve the acute international crisis triggered by the unlawful aggression of the US and Israel against Iran.”
The ministry said the war had been a blow to stability and security “not only in the near and Middle East, but also on a global scale.”
Iran-backed Houthis have declared a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia and captured territory around the Bab al-Mandab strait, the Red Sea chokepoint and vital export route for Saudi oil since Iran blockaded the Gulf’s Strait of Hormuz.
The hostilities were the focus of a meeting on Oct. 18 between the Russian and Saudi foreign ministers on the sidelines of a summit between Gulf states and Russia in Bahrain’s Manama.
They discussed “regional developments, particularly the escalation in Yemen, as well as the persistent threats to shipping in the Straits of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab”, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said on X.
The Houthis have hit Saudi targets including tankers in the Red Sea, oil facilities and Riyadh’s King Khalid International airport.
A Houthi projectile injured at least six people in southern Saudi Arabia on Oct. 18 after it struck a residential area in Najran near the border with Yemen, according to the kingdom’s civil defence agency.
The Saudi-led coalition also said two ballistic missiles were intercepted in the kingdom’s south. Threat alerts for Najran city and As Sulayyil governorate in Riyadh province were issued but quickly cancelled on Oct. 18.