Putin backs mediation efforts on Middle East war, tells Iran Moscow ready to help as US-Iran talks hit impasse

Russian President Vladimir Putin has told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian that Moscow is ready to help efforts to mediate the Middle East war, which has been locked in a stalemate for months.

The offer came in a phone call on Wednesday, according to Iranian state media, as reported by AFP. The state news agency IRNA said Putin referred to efforts by some countries to mediate and help reduce tensions, and that Russia supports them. He added that Iran can be assured Moscow is also ready to play a role and provide assistance, IRNA reported.

Also read: Qatar says US-Iran talks to end Middle East war continue via mediators, despite deadlock over Strait of Hormuz


The two leaders also spoke of the "positive and expanding trajectory of relations" between their countries and stressed the need to deepen ties further, IRNA said. Iranian media reported that Pezeshkian also congratulated Putin on his birthday during the call.

Russia's earlier offers

This is not the first time Putin has offered to mediate. In a call on April 12, he told Pezeshkian he was ready to help find a political and diplomatic settlement and to act as a mediator for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, according to the Kremlin's readout. Pezeshkian had briefed him on the US-Iran talks held in Islamabad on April 11.

Earlier, on March 6, the Kremlin said Putin had reaffirmed Russia's position that hostilities must stop immediately.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in a speech at the UN General Assembly last month that Moscow was ready to help stabilise the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Gulf region as the war drags on, AFP reported.

Where the war stands

The war began on February 28 with US and Israeli attacks on Iran that killed its former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, AFP reported. The Strait of Hormuz has become the focal point of the conflict. Iran has blockaded the waterway, a vital route for Gulf oil and gas, while the US has kept a counter-blockade of Iranian ports.

Talks on ending the conflict appear to be at an impasse, AFP reported earlier this week. Iran's top diplomat said on Sunday there would be no military solution to the US war against Iran. Iranian and US officials held indirect talks last week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Tehran said it presented seven conditions for reopening the strait. These include a ceasefire across the Middle East, the unfreezing of Iranian assets abroad, the lifting of sanctions on its oil sector and an end to the US naval blockade.

Also read: Families of some US troops killed in the Iran war's deadliest strike absent from White House event

AFP also reported that a UK maritime agency said another tanker was struck by an unknown projectile near the strait on Sunday. Iran's oil minister Mohsen Paknejad has resigned, according to the president's office.

Russia and Iran are two of the most sanctioned countries in the world. They have deepened their military and trade ties significantly during Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and are increasingly reliant on each other, according to AFP. The two countries signed a strategic partnership treaty in January 2025.