Lavrov to visit Tehran on Monday for de-escalation talks with Araghchi

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will pay a working visit to Tehran on October 19, where he will hold talks with his Iranian counterpart, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced.

“It is planned to discuss in detail current international and regional problems with a focus on the situation around Iran and Russia’s steps toward de-escalating tensions,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a media briefing, as reported by Russian news agency TASS. In April, Araghchi travelled to St Petersburg, where he also met Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Lavrov’s visit comes amid open conflict between the United States and Iran, with strikes continuing in the Strait of Hormuz. According to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), 12 attacks were reported within a week: 10 in the Strait of Hormuz, one in the Gulf and one in the Gulf of Oman. Al Jazeera reported that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy claimed a vessel carrying more than two million barrels of crude oil was struck by a sea mine while attempting to cross the strait via an “unauthorised” route.

Meanwhile, Araghchi landed in Baghdad on Saturday for a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s Council of Foreign Ministers, Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported.

Read next: More Russia-Iran diplomacy coverage

Sources: The Tribune / ANI · Devdiscourse / ANI · Asianet Newsable / ANI