Masoud Pezeshkian to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week

Abbas Araghchi, the Islamic Republic's foreign minister, announced in a message on Instagram on Friday 23 October 2026 that Masoud Pezeshkian, head of the Islamic Republic's government, will meet Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, in Moscow next week. The exact date of the trip has not been announced.

According to Araghchi, the meeting follows his talks with Sergei Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, who was in Tehran last week. Araghchi wrote that he had discussed political and economic relations, the two sides' agreements and regional and global issues with Lavrov in detail.

A trip in the shadow of the threat of a new strike

The trip is announced as US officials speak of the possibility of a new strike on the Islamic Republic, and Donald Trump said on Friday that the US can put an end to the Islamic Republic very quickly. At the same time, the foreign ministers of several European and regional countries spoke at the Istanbul meeting of diplomacy and of reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

During the months of war the Islamic Republic has repeatedly looked to Russia for support, but so far Moscow has given no clear commitment to defend Tehran beyond verbal support and diplomatic meetings. In the early hours of the same Friday, citizens reported several Russian transport aircraft landing in Bushehr; the cargo and purpose of these flights are still unclear.

Earlier meetings

Pezeshkian also went to Moscow in January 2025 to sign a strategic partnership treaty. This spring Araghchi met Putin in Saint Petersburg, on the first visit by a senior Islamic Republic official to Russia since the war began.

Masoud Pezeshkian's trip to Moscow shows that, under the pressure of the blockade and the threat of attack, the Islamic Republic is turning ever more to Russia for shelter.