Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday for Moscow’s stance during the Middle East war, in their first meeting since the conflict broke out.
Moscow has massively deepened military and economic ties with Iran since launching its own full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“We appreciate and thank you for your positions at every stage, both during the period when the fighting and acts of aggression were taking place and under normal circumstances, when the United States was imposing sanctions on us, both at the United Nations and in international forums,” Pezeshkian told Putin at a meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan.
“This shows that our relationship is a strategic relationship; it is not an ordinary relationship,” he added.
An earlier statement by the Iranian presidency had said that the two presidents “reviewed bilateral relations” and “discussed ways to strengthen and expand cooperation in various fields.”
Pezeshkian vowed to match any US move to return to a June deal aimed at ending their war, as he prepares to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at a regional summit.
“I state explicitly that if the United States returns to its commitments under the aforementioned Memorandum of Understanding, the Islamic Republic of Iran will immediately take reciprocal action,” Pezeshkian said, according to the Iran presidency’s website.
Pezeshkian and Putin last met during a summit in Turkmenistan in December 2025.
War erupted between Iran and the United States on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes that killed the Islamic republic’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei along with senior military officials.
Iran retaliated with attacks across the region as the conflict continued to spread.
Tehran has since blockaded the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global energy conduit, while Washington imposed a naval counter-blockade on Iranian ports.
An April 8 ceasefire put an end to the most intense fighting, but sporadic attacks, mainly near the Strait of Hormuz, have dimmed prospects for a final peace agreement. The US recently shifted towards a campaign of what it calls “economic asphyxiation” of Iran.
During a meeting in late April in Saint Petersburg, Putin told Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi that Moscow would do “everything” to help secure peace in the Middle East. – AFP.
