Lavrov confirmed Russia's readiness to mediate a deal between Iran and the United States

Russia is ready to act as a mediator and play any role in the negotiations between the United States and Iran that will be useful from the point of view of both sides. This was stated on April 18 by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, answering a question from Izvestia.

"We are ready to help, mediate, and play any role that is useful from Iran's point of view and acceptable to the United States. We proceed from the fact that the only option for an agreement, as Mr. Minister just said (referring to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. — Ed.), there are agreements exclusively on nuclear matters," the head of the diplomatic department replied to Izvestia correspondent Anton Zolotnitsky.

Lavrov emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to fully seek this agreement within the framework of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

"This is a fundamental point that must be taken into account by those who are trying to burden negotiations with issues unrelated to nuclear affairs and thereby create a very risky situation," the minister concluded.

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In early March, American leader Donald Trump invited Russia to mediate in the negotiations between the United States and Iran. Araqchi said that during the second round, Iran will discuss with the United States the framework of possible agreements. In turn, Trump noted that the negotiations are going well.

The first round of negotiations between the United States and Iran on lifting sanctions and nuclear issues ended in Oman on April 12. During the meeting, the Iranian Foreign Minister and the US President's Special envoy for the Middle East, Stephen Witkoff, exchanged the positions of their governments on these issues in the presence of the Omani Foreign Minister. At the end of the meeting, Tehran announced the continuation of negotiations in a week.

Later, on April 18, Araqchi, responding to a question from Izvestia, stated that the current situation in the negotiations on the nuclear program has developed in such a way that the Islamic Republic cannot conduct direct negotiations with opponents due to incoming threats from the American side.