Top Iranian diplomat to visit Russia on Monday, meet with Putin

MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit Russia on Monday to discuss ways to resolve the conflict in the Middle East. He is expected to be hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Earlier, a Russian Foreign Ministry official confirmed to TASS that Araghchi would visit Russia "for talks." Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in turn, said that the head of state was scheduled to meet with the Iranian minister. Tehran’s Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali pointed out that Iran’s top diplomat planned "to hold consultations with the Russian authorities on the current situation in the talks, the ceasefire and developments around the conflict" in the Middle East. Russia and Iran have maintained communication since the start of the US-Israeli aggression against Tehran, with the two countries’ presidents and foreign ministers holding telephone conversations. "Given bilateral relations between the two countries and the fact that Iran and Russia, as neighbors, see eye-to-eye on a number of regional and international issues, we have seen regular communication at the high and top levels," the diplomat noted. He highlighted effective cooperation between Tehran and Moscow on the international stage. "This cooperation became clear during discussions of a recent United Nations Security Council resolution on the Strait of Hormuz, initiated by the US, which was unbalanced and irrational. Russia and China spoke out against it and used their veto right," the envoy added. The top Iranian diplomat visited Pakistan before heading to Russia. The Tasnim news agency reported, citing sources, that the talks Araghchi held in Islamabad touched upon a new legal regime for the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of the United States’ blockade on Iranian ports, compensation payments and guarantees of no further attacks on Iran. Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei pointed out that Araghchi had planned to communicate only with senior Pakistan officials with regard to Islamabad's mediation efforts aimed at ending the conflict in the Middle East and that no meetings with US officials had been on his agenda. Meanwhile, the Fars news agency reported that the Iranian foreign minister had handed a document over to Pakistan to be conveyed to the US, which was not part of the negotiation process. Fars claimed that the document clarified Iran’s key red lines, which particularly concern control of the Strait of Hormuz and the country’s nuclear energy sector.