On Monday, Iran's Supreme Leader sent his foreign minister to Moscow to request additional support from Russia, following the largest U.S. military operation against the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution, which took place over the weekend.
اضافة اعلان
U.S. President Donald Trump and Israel have openly speculated about the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a potential regime change—moves that Russia fears could plunge the Middle East into chaos.
While Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the Israeli strikes, he has yet to comment on the U.S. attacks targeting Iran’s nuclear sites, despite calling for calm last week and offering Moscow’s mediation in the nuclear dispute.
A senior source told Reuters that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was expected to deliver a message from Khamenei to Putin, appealing for his support.
According to Iranian sources cited by Reuters, Tehran has so far seen limited backing from Moscow and hopes Putin will step up his efforts to support Iran against both Israel and the United States, though the nature of the requested support was not disclosed.
The Kremlin confirmed that Putin would meet with Araghchi but did not specify the topics to be discussed.
Russia’s TASS news agency quoted Araghchi as saying that Iran and Russia are coordinating their positions regarding the ongoing escalation in the Middle East.
Putin has repeatedly offered to mediate between the United States and Iran and has conveyed Moscow’s proposals to both sides, aiming to resolve the conflict while ensuring Iran’s continued access to civilian nuclear energy.
Last week, the Russian president refused to discuss the possibility of the U.S. and Israel assassinating Khamenei.
Putin also stated that Israel had assured Moscow that Russian specialists helping build two new reactors at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant would not be harmed in the event of airstrikes.
Russia is a long-standing ally of Tehran and plays a role in nuclear negotiations with the West, both as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a signatory of the previous nuclear agreement that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
However, with Putin now deeply engaged in a protracted war of attrition in Ukraine for the past four years, he has shown no clear willingness to confront the United States over Iran—especially as Trump signals a desire to repair ties with Moscow.
