March 27 (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday discussed the possibility of a diplomatic settlement in the Iran war with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araqchi, Lavrov’s ministry said.
“The ministers discussed in detail the most difficult military-political crisis in the Middle East, which erupted as a result of unprovoked American-Israeli aggression against Iran,” the statement on the ministry website said.
“There was an exchange of views on the prospects of shifting the conflict into a channel for a political-diplomatic settlement based on international law and taking into account the legitimate interests of all countries in the region.”
The statement also said Lavrov outlined details of Russia’s most recent shipment of humanitarian assistance to Iran.
Russia and Iran have signed a strategic partnership agreement covering political, economic, military, and energy cooperation, but it does not include a mutual defence accord.
Russia has been using Iranian-designed drones in its four-year-old conflict with Ukraine.
European foreign ministers on Friday used a G7 meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to press the case that Russia was helping Iran target U.S. forces in the Middle East war.
Two Western security sources and a regional official close to Tehran told Reuters that Moscow has been providing satellite imagery to Tehran and also helped Iran upgrade its drones to emulate the equivalent versions used by Russia against Ukraine.
(Reporting by Reuters, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
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