Lavrov Discusses ‘Regional Security’, ‘Nuclear Deal’ in Tehran

A photo distributed by the Iranian presidency of a major reception for Lavrov in Tehran on Wednesday
A photo distributed by the Iranian presidency of a major reception for Lavrov in Tehran on Wednesday
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Lavrov Discusses ‘Regional Security’, ‘Nuclear Deal’ in Tehran

A photo distributed by the Iranian presidency of a major reception for Lavrov in Tehran on Wednesday
A photo distributed by the Iranian presidency of a major reception for Lavrov in Tehran on Wednesday

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, at the start of a two-day visit, during which he will discuss the war in Ukraine, regional security and the Iranian nuclear talks.

In a statement, the Russian foreign ministry said that discussions with Iranian officials would focus on the nuclear agreement and the war in Ukraine, Syria and Yemen.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced Lavrov’s visit on June 13, but Moscow did not confirm the news until the eve of his trip.

“Tomorrow, Lavrov will visit Iran,” the permanent Russian representative to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said on Twitter.

The Russian foreign minister is scheduled to hold detailed consultations with Abdollahian on Thursday.

On his agenda are issues pertaining to the signing of a long-term bilateral cooperation agreement and work to expand economic contacts amid the increasing Western sanctions, as well as the developments in the Ukrainian war.

Lavrov’s consultations with his Iranian counterpart fall in the context of the nuclear talks in Vienna between Iran and the great powers (Russia, the United States, China, France, Britain and Germany).

Intermittent 11-month talks to revive the agreement were suspended in Vienna last March after Russia requested US guarantees that its trade with Iran would not be affected by sanctions imposed on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis. Moscow later said it had received written guarantees that it would be able to assume its role as party to the agreement, which suggests that Moscow may allow the revival of the talks.

The Iranian circles in favor of the nuclear agreement criticize Russia for “obstructing” the nuclear talks, but the negotiations became more complicated after Tehran stipulated that the Revolutionary Guards be removed from the list of terrorist organizations.

This is the first meeting that brings together Abdollahian with one of his counterparts from the signatory countries to the nuclear agreement, after the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency condemned Tehran’s failure to respond to the IAEA’s questions regarding the presence of traces of enriched uranium in undeclared sites.

Russia, along with its ally China, voted against the resolution put forward by the United States, France, Britain and Germany.



Greece Blocks Asylum Claims for Migrants on Crete after Surge in Arrivals

Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS
Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS
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Greece Blocks Asylum Claims for Migrants on Crete after Surge in Arrivals

Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS
Migrants get off a bus at the port of Heraklion, Crete, Greece, 08 July 2025. EPA/NIKOS CHALKIADAKIS

Greece's government said Wednesday it is temporarily suspending asylum applications for migrants arriving on the island of Crete, following a spike in arrivals from Libya.

More than 2,000 migrants have landed on the island since the weekend, according to coast guard figures, bringing the total number of arrivals this year to over 10,000.

Speaking in parliament, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the government also planned to build a detention site on Crete for migrants and was seeking direct collaboration between the Libya and Greek coast guards to turn back boats leaving the North African country.

“This emergency situation clearly demands emergency measures,” Mitsotakis told parliament Wednesday. “The Greek government has decided to inform the European Commission that ... it will suspend the processing of asylum applications — for an initial period of three months — for those arriving by sea from North Africa.”

According to The Associated Press, the suspension will apply only to migrants reaching Crete by sea. Migrants entering illegally will be detained, Mitsotakis said. “The Greek government is sending a firm message: the route to Greece is closing, and that message is directed at all human traffickers,” he said.

Overnight, a fishing trawler carrying 520 migrants from Libya was intercepted south of Crete. A bulk carrier that took all of the migrants onboard was rerouted to the port of Lavrio, near Athens, so that the migrants could be detained on a mainland facility, authorities said.