Lavrov lands in Tehran, meets top Iranian officials for talks on ‘de-escalation’

Moscow has taken a firm stance against US aggression and sanctions on Iran, and has reportedly aided Tehran militarily throughout the illegal war launched by Washington and Tel Aviv  

News Desk - The CradIe 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Tehran on 19 October for a visit aimed at “de-escalation,” coinciding with mounting US threats against Iran and a vow by the Islamic Republic to retaliate much more forcefully to any new attack.

Lavrov arrived in the Iranian capital “to discuss de-escalation steps in the Persian Gulf region” with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to Russian outlet TASS.

Lavrov will “also devote significant attention to practical steps aimed at strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries,” the Russian media outlet added.

He is likely to “brief” Tehran on the outcomes of Russia’s participation in the Ministerial Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Manama, Bahrain, which took place on 18 October, TASS stated.

According to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency, Lavrov was received by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. 

Tehran and Moscow have significantly heightened defense and security cooperation over the past several years.

Western media said at the start of the illegal US-Israeli war that Russia provided the Islamic Republic with targeting intelligence to help it strike Washington’s military assets across West Asia.

Other reports say Russia has also helped Iran expand its missile program. 

Moscow has taken a firm position against the war and against the illegal sanctions that the US continues to impose on Tehran. 

Russia itself has been targeted by US sanctions under the pretext of energy cooperation with Iran. 

The Strait of Hormuz remains closed to Washington and its allies, compounding a global energy crisis that is now escalating as the Yemeni army pounds Saudi energy sites with missiles. 

The Pentagon is considering deploying the “Mother of All Bombs” on Iran’s energy infrastructure and nuclear facilities, with officials weighing its use as a weapon of terror that would offer a symbolic exit from a failed war, CNN reported on 15 October.

On 22 September, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned that any new escalation will be met with an “expansion of the geography” of the war, as well as the use of “new weapons” against “new targets.”