Will Russia extend a lifeboat to troubled Iran?

Noura Bendari

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov paid a visit to Tehran to hold talks with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif.

The two FMs discussed a wide range of regional and international issues, especially the agreement over Iran’s nuclear program, Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan. They also discussed economic cooperation between Iran and Russia.

The two ministers signed an agreement on the work of cultural centers in the two countries, according to Iran’s ambassador in Moscow.

He said the agreement was important for cultural cooperation between the two countries.

The Iranian diplomat noted that Russia and Iran faced the same challenges at the international level.

The two countries, he added, need this rapprochement to solve common problems.

Against sanctions

Lavrov said sanctions imposed by the European Union on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corpse would jeopardize talks on Iran’s nuclear file that would be held in Vienna later this year.

Russian efforts

Iranian affairs specialist Masoud Ibrahim Hassan said Lavov’s visit to Iran acquires special importance, especially in the light of the latest attack on an Iranian nuclear facility in Natanz.

Iran, he said, accused the United States and Israel of carrying out the attack.

“Moscow is also apparently trying to use the ongoing tensions between Iran and the United States in forming a grouping against the United States in the region,” Hassan told The Reference.

He noted, however, that the fact that Russia is not concerned about Iranian nuclear activities is strange.

The Iranian nuclear program, he said, would affect the Caucuses region in the future.