Moscow, March 29, (dpa/GNA) – The foreign ministers of Russia and Iran criticized Western arms deliveries to Ukraine, which is under Russian attack, when they met in Moscow on Wednesday.
“We have once again drawn attention to the subversive stance taken by NATO countries, which have long been involved in the conflict,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said at a press conference. He accused NATO countries of being so heavily involved in the fighting, that they might as well be fighting alongside Kiev.
Tehran’s top diplomat Hossein Amir-Abdollahian meanwhile offered Iranian assistance in mediation efforts towards a peace agreement. The West’s continued armament of Ukraine complicates the situation however, he said.
According to Western officials, Iran is also supporting its partner with supplies of so-called kamikaze drones in the war in Ukraine.
Tehran denies this, although Russia’s TASS news agency quoted Amir-Abdollahian as saying that Iran sent a small number of drones to Russia in November 2022, three months before the start of hostilities in Ukraine. Moscow in turn says that only Russian-made drones are in service there.
The ministers’ talks covered the latest attempts ro revive the Iran nuclear deal, the Ukraine war and strategic cooperation between the two countries.
In the face of Western sanctions, Iran and Russia sought to expand their economic and military cooperation.
The cooperation in defence “is not directed against any third country,” the Iranian foreign minister told the IRNA news agency upon arriving in Moscow.
According to Amir-Abdollahian, Moscow and Tehran are close to concluding “a long-term strategic agreement,” though he did not give more details. In the past year and a half, bilateral trade has already increased by more than 3.5 times, he said.
Lavrov, in turn, stressed Moscow’s support for Tehran on the issue of Iran’s nuclear programme.
Iran pledged in Vienna in 2015 to limit its nuclear programme, in exchange for which UN sanctions on the country were lifted. After the United States pulled out of the agreement in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump, Tehran gradually reversed the restrictions. Since May 2022, talks involving Russia and other countries have not made significant progress.
The two leaders also discussed events in Syria, Afghanistan and the Caucasus, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
The talks also covered the recent rapprochement between Tehran and Riyadh, which want to resume bilateral relations after a seven-year freeze.
GNA