ByREUTERS

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart met on Thursday, and Moscow said both agreed that only a diplomatic settlement could end tension in the Middle East sparked by the US-Israeli war against Iran.

"Current regional and international issues were discussed with emphasis on the situation around Iran," Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement after Lavrov and Iran's Abbas Araghchi met in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

"It was stressed that there is no alternative to a diplomatic settlement of the crisis provoked by the illegal actions of the United States and Israel."

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian signed a strategic cooperation partnership in 2025, which provides for a deepening of bilateral ties and closer defense cooperation, but includes no mutual defense clause.

Each side has provided the other with military know-how and equipment.

: Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (L) during their bilateral meeting on September 1, 2026 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Putin arrived to Kyrgyzstan with a two-days trip to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit. (Illustrative)
: Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (L) during their bilateral meeting on September 1, 2026 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Putin arrived to Kyrgyzstan with a two-days trip to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit. (Illustrative) (credit: Contributor/Getty Images)

Tehran and Moscow push back against US pressure

Pezeshkian thanked Vladimir Putin earlier this month for Moscow's position on the Iran war and said together, Moscow and Tehran can resist what he called US "unilateralism."

Pezeshkian said in an interview published on Thursday that it was up to the US to choose when the Iran war would end, when asked if the conflict could end by the end of the year.