Russia's top diplomat Lavrov lands in Iran for talks amid fresh US sanctions on Tehran

Days after Moscow held talks with the US just a month after Donald Trump returned to the White House, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov landed in Tehran on Tuesday for talks with Iranian officials, Iranian state media reported.

Lavrov will discuss regional and bilateral topics with his Iranian counterpart during his one-day trip to Iran, state media reported.

Trump earlier this month had restored his ”maximum pressure” campaign on Iran that includes efforts to drive the country’s oil exports to zero, reimposing Washington’s tough policy on Iran that was practiced throughout his first term.

Moscow and Tehran have angered the West by developing stronger defence ties since the start of conflict in Ukraine in 2022.

Russia’s ties with Iran have grown closer after Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Ukraine and the West have accused Tehran of providing Moscow with hundreds of drones for use to attack Ukraine, which Moscow and Tehran have denied.

Last year, Iran joined the BRICS bloc of developing economies and Pezeshkian attended its summit, which was hosted by Russia in Kazan.

Russia and Iran, which had troubled relations in the past, developed cordial ties after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, with Moscow emerging as a key trade partner and supplier of weapons and technologies for Tehran, which has faced bruising international sanctions.

Russia built Iran’s first nuclear plant that was launched in 2013 and is building two more nuclear reactors there.

Russia was part of the 2015 deal between Iran and six nuclear powers offering sanctions relief for Tehran in exchange for curbing its atomic program, and the Kremlin offered political support to Iran when Trump withdrew the U.S. from the agreement.

Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, signed a broad cooperation pact as their countries deepened their partnership in the face of stinging Western sanctions.

Moscow and Tehran, which both have faced massive Western sanctions, agreed in the document to coordinate their response to such restrictions and facilitate payments in national currencies. The pact also envisions the exchange of intelligence information and cooperation on security issues.

With inputs from agencies