In response to U.S. and Israeli strikes, Iran and Russia today bolstered their alliance in Moscow.

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As regional tensions mount, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi arrived in Moscow on Sunday to discuss a unified stance with President Vladimir Putin and senior Russian officials. The visit follows U.S. airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear sites — Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. Those strikes have drawn widespread condemnation.

“Russia is a friend of Iran, and we enjoy a strategic alliance. We always consult each other and coordinate our positions,” Araghchi told reporters in Istanbul before departing. In Moscow, he reaffirmed Iran’s sovereign prerogatives to respond to what he called the “illegitimate actions” of the United States and Israel.

President Putin denounced the attacks as “a completely unprovoked aggression against Iran” that “has no foundation or justification.” He praised the longstanding, reliable bond between the two nations and said, “We are doing everything possible to support the Iranian people.” He also noted that Moscow’s position on the Iran–Israel escalation is “well known, as reflected in statements by the Russian Foreign Ministry.”

Araghchi described the agenda as covering “serious and important” topics of mutual concern. Given the recent U.S. strikes, he added, it was only natural for talks to “extend into broader dimensions.” He stressed that current conditions call for “more precise and tighter consultations” between Tehran and Moscow.

Since the early hours of June 13, when Israel launched unprovoked missile and drone attacks on Iranian territory, both sides have traded strikes. On June 21, U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. Air Force had carried out a “successful attack” on those facilities. He declared, “No other Army in the world could have done this. The time for peace has come!” and warned any Iranian retaliation would meet “a far greater force than what was used tonight.”

Araghchi reminded that, “in accordance with the UN Charter, Iran reserves all options to defend its sovereignty, interests, and people.” Iran’s UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, added that “the timing, nature, and scale of any proportionate response will be decided by our armed forces.”

Russian UN envoy Vasily Nebenzya sharply criticized Washington, accusing it of being “willing to commit any crime and violate international law in order to preserve its global hegemony.” He stressed that “no one has authorized” these strikes.

Moscow also warned that “the risk of escalation in the Middle East — already entangled in multiple crises — has significantly increased.”

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