Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for Moscow’s position on the war in the Middle East, in their first meeting since the conflict broke out in February.
Russia has supplied Iran with satellite images and other intelligence, helping Tehran target US facilities in the Persian Gulf in recent months, according to reports. The two allies have also expanded military and economic ties in recent years.
“We appreciate and thank you for your positions at every stage, both during the period when the fighting and acts of aggression were taking place and under normal circumstances, when the United States was imposing sanctions on us, both at the United Nations and in international forums,” Pezeshkian told Putin at a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Kyrgyzstan on September 1.
Pezeshkian described Iran’s relationship with Russia as “strategic” and said Tehran and Moscow can work together to resist what he called US “unilateralism.”
The meeting came after a new flareup in the six-month war. The United States said it attacked Iranian rocket launchers on a small island in the Strait of Hormuz on August 30, prompting Tehran to retaliate by hitting US military targets in Jordan.
Tehran and Washington signed a memorandum of understanding in June aimed at ending the war, but the deal soon unraveled.
Since then, Washington has reimposed a naval blockade on Iran and intensified economic pressure on Tehran. Iran has maintained its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for global oil and gas supplies, and effectively closed the waterway to international maritime traffic.
At the SCO summit, Pezeshkian said Tehran remained ready for diplomacy, but only if Washington returned to its obligations under the June agreement.
“If the United States returns to its commitments under the aforementioned memorandum of understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately reciprocate,” Pezeshkian said.
Putin, meanwhile, said Moscow stood in solidarity with the Iranian people in the fight for their interests.
The Russian president also said that Moscow and Tehran will maintain their economic and trade ties despite the current military and political environment.
“We welcomed the signing of the Iranian-American cease-fire memorandum in June of this year, but unfortunately, the cease-fire proved unstable and too fragile,” Putin said. “In this difficult period, we're trying to provide you with the necessary support, we talked with you about this, we're supplying you with goods that you need.”
The Russian delegation in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, included Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Deputy Prime Minister Aleksei Overchuk, and senior officials responsible for energy, transport, economic development, military-technical cooperation, and nuclear energy.
Putin has held a series of bilateral talks in Bishkek, including with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Kazakh President Qasym-Dzhomart Toqaev. He also has meetings scheduled with the leaders of other countries, including Tajikistan, Turkey, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan on September 1.
