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Lavrov and Araghchi will discuss Iran's nuclear program

17 December 2025 01:42 (UTC +04:00)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold talks with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Moscow on Wednesday, APA reports.

The two sides will discuss security issues in the Caspian region, the prospects of Iran's nuclear program, and other international issues.

Regional security issues promise to be a central focus of the ministerial meeting. As Lavrov emphasized in an interview preceding Araghchi's visit, the Russian side has identified destructive Western plans to "break apart the Caspian 'five' and dictate their decisions in the region." In a conversation with TASS, Iran's Ambassador to Moscow, Kazem Jalali, also noted the particular importance of this negotiating track. He emphasized that the ministers will cover the Caucasus agenda, Central Asia, the aforementioned Caspian Sea, and Afghanistan in terms of security. However, the Afghan issue will likely receive further development during the upcoming meeting of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighboring countries in Ashgabat, announced by Tehran.

Araghchi is expected to devote special attention to the issue of the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. Russia's position is well known. As Lavrov noted, no one can doubt that Moscow has always supported Tehran in the negotiations on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program. He assured that Moscow tried to work with the Europeans to persuade Washington to return to its obligations under the deal, but the Europeans "preferred to blame everything on Iran and invoked the 'snapback' mechanism." Despite this unscrupulous approach by Western negotiators, Lavrov urged Iran not to make abrupt decisions, including in discussions about a possible withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This sensitive issue will likely not go unnoticed by the ministers.

"We have, have had, and continue to have our own ideas. We shared our opinions with our Iranian friends on how to proceed in this situation, how and under what conditions to restore relations with the IAEA and with Western countries, if they are interested. But the final decision, of course, rests with the leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran," Lavrov noted ahead of his meeting with Araghchi.

It's expected that US President Donald Trump and his peacemaking efforts around Ukraine and the Gaza Strip will also be on the negotiating agenda.