Why Is Iran Telling Putin It Can Settle Without the US?

Iran’s president told Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday that the Middle East can settle its own problems without the United States. A day earlier, Saudi, Pakistani and Turkish officials were in Tehran, and on Wednesday Iran’s foreign ministry answered Donald Trump‘s description of the last ceasefire as a waste of time.

The earlier Mecca pact talks in Tehran set up the week. This piece follows what has been said since. The Iran and US talks tracker holds the running timeline.

Pezeshkian told Putin the region can resolve its problems without the United States, with Qatar’s emir also in Moscow. Trump said at a rally he considered the last ceasefire “sort of a waste of time,” and Iran’s foreign ministry answered him by name. According to The National, Iranian officials asked the Tehran visitors to carry a two-week regional pause to Washington. US midterm voting is on 3 November.

Pezeshkian spoke to Putin on Tuesday, 27 October, on the sidelines of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit. As AFP reported, he said: “I believe we are capable of resolving our problems in the region without relying on the United States.” He added that “Our trade is expanding and growing day by day.” According to the Korea Times, he also said both sides were willing to widen cooperation in science, industry, culture, security and military affairs.

Putin said he had discussed the regional situation with Pezeshkian one on one. In the same report he called it a situation that “cannot help but cause concern” and said he hoped it would “evolve in a positive direction.” The Korea Times added that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Iran last week and described Russia’s efforts as aimed at preventing the return of a large-scale war.

Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, was at the same summit. His office said he met Pezeshkian and that they discussed the Middle East war, the blockaded Strait of Hormuz and energy supplies, according to AFP.

The Tehran meeting took place on Monday, 26 October. The National reported that Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Turkey’s intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin attended. State television quoted Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, calling the discussions “very good.” The National said Iranian sources told the visitors Iran is “willing to help” end the Saudi-Houthi fighting but has no leverage over the Houthis. The same sources asked them to persuade Washington to accept a two-week regional pause, in return for a gradual reopening of Hormuz.

On Tuesday, Mojtaba Khamenei’s office announced that he had met Rezaei, the first publicly announced meeting between them, Arab News reported. The office said he stressed the need to safeguard “the rights and interests of the Iranian nation and the resistance front.” Date and place were not given.

Trump spoke at a rally in Mississippi on 26 October. As The Tribune of India quoted Al Arabiya, he said: “We did a little ceasefire, which I never liked very much.” He added: “I considered it sort of a waste of time.” On Tuesday in Corpus Christi, Texas, Iran International’s live blog reported him saying he would attack Iran again if faced with the same decision, calling the first operation “one of the greatest things I ever did.”

Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei replied in a post on X on Wednesday, 28 October. He wrote: “Washington’s contempt for diplomacy is once again laid bare.” He described the “admission that he never believed in the Islamabad MoU and considered it a waste of time” and wrote: “Broken commitments cannot be excused.”

Sina Toossi of the Center for International Policy told Al Jazeera that “Iran believes previous negotiations and ceasefire arrangements failed to protect it from renewed military attacks.” Negar Mortazavi, host of The Iran Podcast, said Iran’s priority is “not simply to secure another ceasefire, but to end the war permanently.”

Amwaj Media wrote on 27 October that the Tehran gathering was “the first high-level meeting between Iran and all three members of the Mecca Defense Pact.” It added that Iran has “little interest in involving its neighbors in that diplomatic engagement, except as intermediaries.” Set that beside the Houthi position reported by The National: the Houthis still want Saudi Arabia to lift its air blockade on Yemen before the fighting ends. Iran says it cannot deliver them.

Al Jazeera reported that Tehran may be slowing talks to deny Trump a political win before the 3 November vote, citing reports. Brent crude rose above $117 a barrel last week, the same report said.

The first marker is whether Washington answers the two-week pause. The second is the vote on 3 November, after which Iranian officials, according to Al Jazeera, fear renewed escalation. The third is the next Mecca pact contact with Tehran, and whether the Houthis stop their attacks on Saudi Arabia in the meantime. Until one of those moves, Pezeshkian’s sentence in Moscow and Trump’s sentence in Mississippi remain the two public positions.