MWE Correspondent
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Kyrgyzstan on Friday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers meeting to discuss bilateral relations, regional developments and international coordination.
The two ministers reviewed bilateral cooperation in the political, economic, trade, transport and energy sectors, as well as coordination within international organisations and multilateral and regional frameworks, including the SCO and BRICS. They agreed that follow-up measures should be taken to facilitate the implementation of agreements reached between the two countries in those areas.
The ministers also exchanged views on developments in West Asia following what Iran described as the United States’ “renewed breach of its commitments” and the US administration’s alleged violation of the provisions of the “Islamabad understanding”.
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Araqchi thanked Russia for what he described as its “principled position” in strongly condemning the US and Israeli military attacks on Iran. He said the current insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz was “the direct result of the United States’ failure to honour its commitments and the crimes committed by the United States against Iran”.
Recalling what he described as Iran’s goodwill during the negotiations that led to the “understanding on ending the war”, Araqchi said Iran remained determined to defend its national interests and national security and to prevent “the United States from exploiting the Strait of Hormuz to threaten Iran’s national security”.
Lavrov, according to the report, reaffirmed Russia’s condemnation of the US and Israeli military attacks on Iran and stressed the importance of cooperation and confidence-building to establish a regional security mechanism based on the countries of the region. He also declared Russia’s readiness to provide “any assistance” in this regard.
