What Lavrov Said in Tehran After Trump Said Russia Does “Very Little” for Iran

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov answered Donald Trump in Tehran on Monday, 19 October. At a joint press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi he said: “I am confident that Iran’s cause, like Russia’s, is a just cause,” Euronews reported. The day before, Trump had written on Truth Social that Russia was doing “very little, if anything, to help the Islamic Republic of Iran, compared to what they could be doing.”

Our earlier piece set out what the Gulf states, Moscow, Washington and Tehran had said before Lavrov arrived and noted that his Tehran remarks were not yet public. They are now, and they continue the story in the Iran-US talks tracker.

Lavrov offered Russian help in finding a settlement between the United States and Iran and, in the same appearance, called Iran’s cause just. President Masoud Pezeshkian told him that US bases in the region only fuel insecurity. Araghchi blamed Washington for the insecurity around the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has put new sanctions on Russia on hold, and Benjamin Netanyahu told him on Monday: “Donald, we have a job to finish.”

Lavrov spoke first about mediation. In remarks carried by TASS, he said: “I once again outlined our country’s readiness to render assistance in searching for mutually acceptable solutions to resolve this artificially created crisis.” He added: “We appreciate the efforts by international mediators who are trying to help reach such a reliable agreement.”

He then turned to the partnership. Euronews quoted him: “Despite the difficult circumstances, Russia does not intend to abandon the implementation of agreements with Iran.” Al Jazeera reported that Russia is committed to a 20 year strategic partnership with Iran that took effect on 2 October, and that Russian specialists will gradually return to the Bushehr nuclear power plant after leaving during the war.

On energy, Lavrov told the press conference: “we are not interested in price volatility, that prices will jump up or down,” according to This Is Beirut.

Araghchi blamed the United States for insecurity and tension in the Strait of Hormuz and called for diplomacy, Reuters reported. Al Jazeera reported him saying that regional problems have “no military solution” and, in reply to Trump’s threat to “soon finish the job,” that “we have unfinished jobs too.”

Pezeshkian received Lavrov the same day. Press TV quoted him: “The Islamic Republic of Iran does not accept any country imposing its will and demands on other nations.” The agency said he described US bases in the region as serving “only to increase tensions, escalate divisions, and fuel instability and insecurity.”

Trump’s post came on Sunday, 18 October. Euronews quoted its next line on Ukraine: he did not want to do anything that would drive Russia “foolishly” away from the bargaining table, and he argued that more sanctions could jeopardise talks to end that war. RFE/RL quoted another sentence of the post: “They have too much to lose, and we would know about it, and know about it very fast.”

CBS News, citing the Russian foreign ministry, reported that Lavrov described Moscow’s efforts as “aimed at preventing the return of a large-scale war.” AP reported on Monday that Trump had put new Russia sanctions on hold. At 3:20 pm that day, CBS recorded Netanyahu telling Trump: “Donald, we have a job to finish.”

The order of the two days sets the argument. On Sunday Trump said Russia does little for Iran. On Monday Lavrov offered Russian help toward a settlement and called Iran’s cause just at one press conference, beside the Iranian foreign minister. The sanctions Trump paused concern Russia’s war in Ukraine, which his own post tied to the bargaining table.

Analysts quoted by RFE/RL disagree on what Russia has given Iran. Hamidreza Azizi, a senior Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group, said: “Russian support has been there, and it has had a tangible impact.” Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Richard Fontaine of the Center for a New American Security called it “operationally meaningful but carefully bounded.” The Soufan Center’s 16 October IntelBrief quoted Nicole Grajewski of Sciences Po saying Russian help was “instrumental to at least the early stages of [Iran’s] campaign.”

Amir Chahaki, an analyst based in Germany, told RFE/RL that Putin wants to use Iran as leverage with Trump: the more Putin can persuade Tehran to move toward Trump’s demands, the more concessions he can extract.

Lavrov’s price remark has its own audience. Oil and gas are Russia’s main exports, and he said Moscow is not interested in swings in either direction. Al Jazeera added that Iran wants a return to the June US and Iran memorandum and acceptance of a finalised Iran and Oman deal on managing Hormuz waters, which the United States opposes, while the Gulf Cooperation Council wants Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes put on the table.

Iranian media reported that Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, would visit Tehran on Tuesday to discuss mediation with Washington and the Hormuz file. If he arrives, two mediators with different standing will have been in Tehran within two days. Russian outlets also reported Lavrov saying that Putin hopes to meet Pezeshkian in Moscow. No date has been announced.

Three markers decide the reading. Trump’s next statement on Russia will show whether the pause on sanctions holds. Washington’s answer to the Iran and Oman Hormuz deal will show whether Moscow’s offer reaches the table. Whether Netanyahu’s “job to finish” is acted on will show if Israel and the United States move before any mediator reports back.