Abbas Araghchi will communicate with ‘senior officers’ in Moscow, Iran’s Overseas Ministry says.
Revealed On 26 Apr 2026
Iran’s high diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, has left Islamabad for Moscow, the Iranian Ministry of Overseas Affairs mentioned, as mediators hope to maintain the prospect of extra Tehran-Washington talks alive.
Araghchi sandwiched a visit to Muscat, Oman, in between visits to the Pakistani capital, leaving on Sunday to be in Russia the next day. However there was no indication that direct talks between Iran and the US would resume.
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Nonetheless, in an indication that oblique efforts had been ongoing, the Fars information company reported that Iran had transmitted “written messages” to the People by way of mediator Pakistan, which had been “about a few of the purple strains of the Islamic Republic of Iran, together with nuclear points and the Strait of Hormuz”.
However the messages weren’t a part of any negotiations, Fars mentioned.
US President Donald Trump final week indefinitely prolonged the ceasefire that Washington and Tehran agreed to on April 7, which has largely halted the preventing that started with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.
However a everlasting settlement stays elusive, and the financial shockwaves of the struggle proceed to reverberate across the globe.
Iran has successfully blocked the important Strait of Hormuz, chopping off huge portions of oil, pure gasoline and fertiliser from the worldwide market, and sending costs hovering. The US has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports in response.
There had been hopes for a brand new spherical of talks on Saturday, with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner attributable to go to Islamabad, however Trump later advised Fox Information he had scrapped the journey, saying there was no level “sitting round speaking about nothing”.
On Sunday, Trump advised the identical channel: “I mentioned, we’re not doing this any extra. Now we have all of the playing cards. In the event that they wish to discuss, they’ll come to us, or they’ll name us. You already know, there’s a phone. Now we have good, safe strains”.
Requested earlier whether or not cancelling the journey meant a return to open hostilities, Trump mentioned: “No, it doesn’t imply that.”
Shuttle diplomacy
On Saturday, Araghchi met Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, a key mediator, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Minister of Overseas Affairs Ishaq Dar, earlier than flying on to Muscat. He returned to Islamabad on Sunday.
In Russia, Iran’s Overseas Ministry mentioned he would communicate with “senior officers”.
Russia’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs confirmed that Araghchi would go to Moscow, however didn’t say if he would meet President Vladimir Putin.
Amid the flurry of conferences, Araghchi signalled scepticism over Washington’s intentions, saying he had “but to see if the US is actually critical about diplomacy”.
