Russia warns its citizens not to travel to Iran, citing risk of military conflict

Russia's Foreign Ministry on Thursday 5 November 2026 urged the country's citizens not to travel to Iran. Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the warning was due to the risk of military hostilities breaking out. It came a few hours after Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Islamic Republic's Supreme National Security Council, met Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

Zakharova asked Russians currently in Iran to stay alert and to avoid crowded places, gatherings and the vicinity of military and government facilities. Before Russia, the governments of the United States, Australia and several European countries had told their citizens to leave Iran or not to travel there.

Mohsen Rezaei's meeting with Putin

Details of the talks between Rezaei and Putin are unclear. After the meeting, Rezaei said the two sides had discussed post-war conditions and regional security arrangements and that Putin had not made a specific proposal to end the war. According to Rezaei, the Russian president condemned the US and Israeli attacks and said Moscow was ready to help end the war.

During the same trip Rezaei said the Islamic Republic had presented its seven conditions to the United States and would neither reopen the Strait of Hormuz nor negotiate until they were accepted. The lifting of sanctions, the release of frozen assets and war reparations are among the conditions. Washington says the nuclear file must be part of any initial negotiation.

Qatar's emir calls Trump

The government of Qatar announced on Friday 6 November that Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani had spoken by phone with Donald Trump about Doha's efforts to bring the parties' positions closer and prevent escalation. The emir stressed continued dialogue, freedom of navigation and the security of energy supplies. Qatar, together with Pakistan and Oman, is mediating between Washington and the Islamic Republic.

Moscow's warning comes as Trump, after the Republicans' defeat in the congressional elections, has still not decided whether to resume attacks on the Islamic Republic. Russia issued similar warnings to its citizens in January 2026, during the crackdown on the Dey uprising, and in February–March 2026, after the US and Israeli attacks began.

Moscow, the Islamic Republic's closest partner, told its citizens not to go to Iran a few hours after the Supreme National Security Council secretary met Putin.