Lavrov holds 'confidential and thorough' talks with Araghchi in Tehran on US-Iran war

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has met his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Tehran, in talks Moscow called “confidential and thorough”, as Russia pressed its Iran-US mediation.

Lavrov landed on Monday afternoon on his first visit to Iran since February 2025. Both delegations then held consultations, Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB reported (Jang). Araghchi told a press briefing the talks covered “the Gulf and West Asia, and also Ukraine and the Iranian-American negotiations”, blaming Strait of Hormuz insecurity on “the Israeli-American aggression” (Al Jazeera). Lavrov was also due to meet President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday.

Moscow said the visit aims “to prevent a return to large-scale war”, with the Russian Foreign Ministry saying the talks would address “ways to resolve the acute international crisis triggered by the unlawful aggression of the US and Israel against Iran” (Daily Sabah).

A day earlier in Manama, GCC chief Jasem Al-Budaiwi had urged Moscow to press Tehran toward “serious dialogue”. Lavrov answered with remarks carried by TASS, saying the June US-Iran memorandum “still contains everything necessary to shift the situation”, and that it was necessary “to eliminate the root causes of what is happening in and around the Strait of Hormuz” (Silent Dossier).

The visit came after US President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that the US would “soon finish the job” in Iran; Araghchi replied on X: “Want to try your luck again? Be our guest. But be careful; we have unfinished jobs too.”