Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in St. Petersburg on Monday (April 27) and told him he hoped the Iranian people would weather what he described as a "difficult period" and that peace would soon prevail, Reuters reports.
Russia has offered to mediate to try to help restore calm to the Middle East following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, which Moscow has condemned. It has also repeatedly offered to store Iran's enriched uranium as a way of defusing tensions, an offer the United States has not taken up.
Iran last year sealed a 20-year strategic partnership agreement with Moscow, Russia is building two new nuclear units at Bushehr, the site of Iran's only nuclear power plant, and Iran supplied Russia with Shahed drones for use against Ukraine.
Araqchi said relations between Russia and Iran would continue to strengthen and thanked Putin for Moscow's support, the state RIA news agency reported.
