Iran Ready to Mediate in Russia-Ukraine War

In a meeting with Secretary of the Security Council of Russia Nikolai Patrushev, held in Tehran on Wednesday morning, Ali Shamkhani said, “Iran welcomes and supports any initiative for a ceasefire and peace between Russia and Ukraine on the basis of dialogue and is prepared to play a role in ending the war.”

He also described regional and international cooperation and dialogue as the only solutions to the existing crises and challenges in the region and the world.

Warning about the threats that terrorism and extremism pose to regional and international security, Shamkhani stressed the need to maintain and enhance collective cooperation to deal with those threats.

He further pointed to the hegemony’s hybrid war against Iran and the impacts of the US sanctions on Iranians, noting, “The promotion of bilateral and regional cooperation, specifically with neighboring states in the economic area, is among the country’s strategic priorities.”

Shamkhani further highlighted the significance of cooperation between Tehran and Moscow in the energy industry, transportation, agriculture, trade, banking and environment, calling for the removal of obstacles to interaction in those fields.

Urging efforts to strengthen multilateral cooperation in regional organizations, particularly the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, for smart exploitation and exchange of capacities among the member states, the Iranian official emphasized the necessity for the formation of joint and synergistic institutions to counter the sanctions and activate the international organizations’ potential against the sanctions and the countries imposing them.

For his part, Patrushev hailed a rise in the cooperation between Russia and Iran in various arenas, saying four meetings between the presidents of the two countries in one year attest to Moscow and Tehran’s determination to elevate their relations to the strategic level.

Pointing to the previous agreements between the national security councils of Russia and Iran and the formulation of a road map to strategic cooperation, especially in dealing with the economic and technological sanctions, the Russian official said he has visited Tehran to expedite the implementation of the joint projects and provide dynamic mechanisms for starting new activities in the economic, trade, energy and technology fields.

He also noted that synergy in the transportation sector and the rapid completion of the North-South Corridor would enhance the quality of economic and trade cooperation at the bilateral and international levels.

Pointing to the joint initiative for the formation of Group of Friends in Defense of Charter of the United Nations with the participation of the countries that have been targeted by the illegal Western sanctions, Patrushev said the Western states, particularly the US, have violated the UN Charter and resorted to a hybrid war in order to impose their political will on the independent states.

Patrushev also briefed Shamkhani on the situation surrounding the crisis in Ukraine, saying the Western media empire has distorted the reality from the outset and has made extensive efforts to divert the world’s public opinion from how the crisis broke out in Ukraine and from the realities on the ground.