Putin pledges support to Tehran – “will do everything”

News blog about the war in the Middle East

“We will do everything”: Putin pledges support to Iran

Iran’s foreign minister visits Kremlin leader Putin in Russia. Israel is attempting a first. All developments in the news blog.

Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin assured Tehran of Moscow’s continued support at a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in St. Petersburg. Last week he received a message from Supreme Leader Moschtaba Khamenei, son of the slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and could only confirm that Russia and Iran are continuing their strategic partnership, Putin said, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.

According to a Russian translation in the presidential library in the Neva metropolis, Araghchi said that relations between Tehran and Moscow were at the highest level and would continue to be strengthened. He thanked Russia for its support.

Putin, in turn, expressed hope for early peace in the region. “We see how bravely and heroically the Iranian people are fighting for their independence, for their sovereignty,” Putin said. “From our side, we will do everything that is in their interest and in line with the interests of all peoples of the region so that peace can be achieved as quickly as possible.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the meeting that a return to hostilities was neither in Tehran’s interest nor in the interest of the global economy. Russia is also ready to mediate in the conflict. Peskov had also previously said the conversation was of inestimable importance because of developments in Iran and the Middle East.

At the beginning of the Iran war, Israel apparently moved a battery of the Iron Dome missile defense system to the United Arab Emirates. The US media Axios reported this on Sunday, citing Israeli and American government officials. Several dozen Israeli soldiers were also sent to operate the ground-based system.

According to the report, this is the first deployment of the Iron Dome outside Israel and the United States. Relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates are closer than ever.

According to a media report, Iran has apparently made a new proposal to the US to open the Strait of Hormuz and end the war. The plan has already been transmitted through Pakistani intermediaries, reports the news portal Axios, citing a US government representative and two other insiders. Accordingly, the sea blockade should first be lifted. Negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program would be postponed to a later date.