Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araqchi, on 6 July at the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro and renewed Moscow’s offer to help broker a settlement of disputes surrounding Tehran’s nuclear programme, according to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry. Lavrov said Russia stood ready to facilitate “mutually acceptable solutions,” including an earlier proposal that Moscow store Iranian uranium. He also denounced last month’s Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iranian targets, including facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards, and stressed that outstanding issues must be resolved exclusively through political and diplomatic channels. Iran maintains it seeks only peaceful nuclear energy, while Russia—bound to Tehran by a strategic partnership without a mutual-defence clause—has positioned itself as a potential mediator in the standoff with Israel and the United States.