Ayatollah Seeks Putin’s Support After Trump’s Crushing Strike On Iranian Nuclear Sites

Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dispatched his foreign minister to Moscow on Monday, seeking Russian President Vladimir Putin’s support after President Donald Trump ordered devastating strikes against Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi reportedly arrived in Moscow carrying a letter from Khamenei specifically requesting Putin’s backing, senior sources told Reuters.

President Trump ordered strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities on Saturday. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Iranian nuclear program was “devastated” and “obliterated.”

Reuters reported that Tehran has not been impressed with Putin’s tepid support thus far, and the letter requests that Putin take stronger measures backing Iran against Israel and the United States, though what assistance was being requested was not specified.

Putin met with the Iranian Foreign Minister in the Kremlin early Monday, where he blasted the “unjustified” U.S. attacks and warned that regime change could destabilize the region.

“The absolutely unprovoked aggression against Iran has no basis and no justification,” Putin told the Iranian Foreign Minister, indicating a desire to calm the crisis. “For our part, we are making efforts to assist the Iranian people,” but again neglected to provide specifics.

Last week, Putin called for peace and offered Moscow’s services as a mediator, showing little appetite for direct confrontation with Trump as he fights a protracted war in Ukraine.

Russia’s peacemaker approach to the conflict comes only a year after signing a 20-year strategic partnership with Iran. The countries agreed to “work together against common military threats, develop their military-technical cooperation, and take part in joint exercises,” Reuters reported.

However, the partnership does not include a mutual defense clause that would obligate Moscow to defend Iran militarily against external attacks.

At the United Nations Security Council on Sunday, Russia joined China and Pakistan in proposing a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, with Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia comparing the situation to Colin Powell’s 2003 Iraq presentation.

“Again, we’re being asked to believe the U.S.’s fairy tales, to once again inflict suffering on millions of people living in the Middle East. This cements our conviction that history has taught our U.S. colleagues nothing,” the ambassador stated.

Putin has maintained communication with Israel during the escalating tensions. Israeli officials have reportedly assured Putin that Russian specialists currently helping build two additional reactors at Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant would be safe.

For Moscow, which has historically played a role in Iran’s nuclear negotiations with the West as both a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to the original nuclear deal, the current crisis presents a delicate balancing act between supporting a regional ally and avoiding direct conflict with the United States.