President Raisi urges swift end to Ukraine war, blames NATO provocations

In a meeting with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday in the Iranian capital Tehran, Raisi stressed the conflict in Ukraine has to end as soon as possible and expressed Iran’s readiness to help the warring sides find a diplomatic solution.

He said, “Undoubtedly, the US and NATO provocations caused the conflict, and therefore efforts should be made against expansion of NATO’s influence in any part of the world, including in West Asia, the Caucasus and Central Asia.”

Raisi also said the ongoing talks between Tehran and Moscow show both sides are strongly determined to start a new era in their strategic cooperation to counter US sanctions.

He said, “Boosting cooperation and coordination is an effective way to counter US sanctions and economic unilateralism against independent countries.”

Russia was slapped with sanctions after it launched a war with Ukraine in February to “demilitarize and denazify” the country.

The president also said the Caspian Sea littoral states will not allow foreign forces to gain a foothold in the region to “implement their interventionist policies”.

For his part, Lavrov discussed various dimensions of Tehran-Moscow relations, including in the economic field, and stressed his country’s readiness and interest in increasing the volume of cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran to the strategic level.

The Russia foreign minister also highlighted Iran’s status as a member of the Shanghai Economic Cooperation Organization, and said Moscow is ready to support Iran’s role in other regional and international organizations.

Lavrov arrived in Iran on Wednesday at the head of a high-ranking delegation for a two-day visit for talks on boosting trade and energy cooperation.