TEHRAN — Iran’s top security official
Ali Shamkhani called for dialogue to end the war in Ukraine during a meeting
Wednesday in Tehran with his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev.
اضافة اعلان
Patrushev later met with
President Ebrahim Raisi,
who said that “broadening the scope of the war and its escalation are a source
of concern for all countries,” according to the official news agency IRNA.
The meetings come after Kiev and its Western allies
accused Russia in recent weeks of using Iranian-made drones to carry out
attacks in Ukraine. Tehran denies the allegations.
“Iran supports any initiative leading to a ceasefire
and peace between Russia and Ukraine based on dialogue,” Shamkhani said,
secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
The Islamic republic was “ready to play a role in
ending the war”, he added, IRNA reported.
Russia’s Security Council said the two senior
officials “discussed in detail bilateral cooperation in the field of law
enforcement, including public security and the fight against terrorism and
extremism”.
“In addition, they discussed measures to counter the
interference of Western special services in the internal affairs of the two countries,”
it said in a statement.
Iran has been rocked by nearly two months of
protests since the death of Mahsa Amini, after her arrest by the morality
police for allegedly breaking the nation’s strict dress code for women.
An adviser to Ukraine’s president said Patrushev’s
visit to Iran showed the Kremlin was “exhausted”.
In a Twitter post, the adviser Mykhailo Podoliak
said Russia’s “resources are close to the limit”, and that Patrushev was
“looking for a way to continue the war” by getting more drones and missiles.
“Now is the perfect time to double aid to Ukraine,”
he wrote.
Kiev dramatically curtailed diplomatic relations
with Tehran in September due to alleged arms shipments to
Moscow.
Last week Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein
Amir-Abdollahian admitted his country had supplied drones to Moscow before
Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
He also said he was ready to examine any evidence of
the use of Iranian drones in the Ukrainian conflict.
In late October the EU and Britain announced new
sanctions against Iran, targeting three generals and an arms company
“responsible for supplying Russia with suicide drones” to bomb Ukraine.
Shamkhani, during the meeting with Patrushev,
underlined the “creation of joint institutions to deal with the sanctions”
imposed on Russia and Iran, IRNA said.
The Russian statement said both parties “stressed
the importance of developing Russia’s and Iran’s economic potential and expand
trade relations” to counter Western sanctions.
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