Iran looking into Trump's request for negotiations: FM Araghchi

Russia offers to 'do what it can' to help resolve regional tensions as Putin meets Iran FM Araghchi

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi ​said on Monday that ‌Tehran was looking into United States President Donald ​Trump's request ​for negotiations, according to a ⁠post on ​the minister's Telegram account.

He ​told reporters in Russia that Trump requested negotiations ​because the US ​has not achieved any of ‌its ⁠objectives.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the country would "do what it can" to achieve regional peace as he met Araghchi.

The Iranian top diplomat is currently on a visit to Russia amid a deadline in peace talks with the United States following a temporary ceasefire.

Putin met FM Araghchi in St Petersburg. Iran's Press TV quoted him as saying that he received a message from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

"Russia will do what it can to support the interests of Iran and other regional countries and help bring peace to West Asia as soon as possible. I hope Iranian people overcome this difficult period and that peace is restored," the outlet quoted him as saying.

FM Araghchi said his people had bravely resisted US aggression and would continue to do so.

"Iran and Russia have a strategic partnership and will continue to strengthen their cooperation," he said.

Iran's FM Araghchi meets with Russian President Putin

🔸 Russian President Putin:

🔺 I received a message from the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei. pic.twitter.com/EIuBJx2RRY

— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) April 27, 2026

Russian FM Sergei Lavrov, presidential aide Yuri Ushakov, and Admiral Igor Kostyukov, chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, also attended the meeting.

On the Iranian side, the delegation included Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi and Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali.

Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that “the importance of this conversation is difficult to overestimate in terms of the evolving situation around Iran and in the Middle East.”

Araghchi arrived in Russia earlier Monday to discuss ongoing regional and global issues after a stop in Islamabad, where he held talks on ending the current conflict with the US, Iran’s state-run media reported.

“The visit to Russia provides a chance to discuss with Russian officials the latest developments,” Araghchi said in a statement upon his arrival in St. Petersburg, according to state broadcaster IRIB News.

He also addressed the failure of the latest round of negotiations, pinpointing US demands as the main reason behind the breakdown.

"Americans' approach led to the previous round of talks to fail to meet its objectives, despite the progress made. This was due to the excessive demands they made and wrong approaches they adopted," he said after arriving in Russia.

Iran’s foreign minister is in the Russian port city of Saint Petersburg on the fourth leg of a whistle-stop regional tour that has taken him to Pakistan and Oman to discuss the push to agree a permanent ceasefire with the US.

Follow: https://t.co/LWoNSpkc2J pic.twitter.com/KE9wHObWLq

— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) April 27, 2026

He further stated that consultations were held with Pakistan to assess the situation, stressing the importance of diplomatic support and strengthening ties in the region.

Araghchi also mentioned Oman as a close ally, noting that its stance during the war had been commendable. He stressed the need for closer cooperation, especially with nations in the southern Persian Gulf, to address arising issues.

As both Oman and Iran share borders along the strategic Strait of Hormuz, he concluded by reaffirming the necessity of ongoing talks to align their interests and coordinate efforts for future steps.

Araghchi visited Oman between trips to Islamabad, as mediators pushed to keep peace talks between Tehran and Washington alive.

On Saturday, US President Donald Trump scrapped a planned trip to Islamabad by his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

In a sign that efforts were ongoing, the Fars news agency said Iran had sent "written messages" to the Americans via mediator Pakistan outlining red lines, including nuclear issues and the Strait of Hormuz. However, Fars said the messages were not part of formal negotiations.

Iran's foreign minister has arrived in Russia as peace efforts between Tehran and Washington hang in the balance.

The trip to Russia comes after Abbas Araghchi visited Oman and Pakistan, as mediators push to keep peace talks alivehttps://t.co/5aiy4K6Hp3 pic.twitter.com/iQGX7uKPE3

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) April 27, 2026

US media outlet Axios reported on Sunday that Iran had sent a new proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the war, with nuclear negotiations postponed for a later stage, citing a US official and two other sources with knowledge of the matter. Iranian state news agency IRNA cited the report without denying it.

A ceasefire in the US-Israeli war with Iran has so far held, but its economic shockwaves have continued to reverberate globally. Iran has sealed off the strait, cutting flows of oil, gas and fertiliser and sending prices soaring, raising fears of food insecurity in developing countries. At the same time, a US blockade of the strait is in place.

Also Read: Backchannel diplomacy expands across region

Hopes for a second round of talks in Pakistan had centred on the planned visit by Witkoff and Kushner, but Trump cancelled the trip after Iranian state television said Araghchi had no plans to meet US officials there.

On Sunday, Trump told Fox News that if Iran wanted the talks, "they can come to us, or they can call us". Trump faces domestic pressure as fuel prices rise following Iran's closure of Hormuz, with midterm elections due in November. Polls show the war is unpopular among Americans.

Too early to drop sanctions against Iran, says EU's von der Leyen

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that it was too early to drop sanctions imposed on Iran.

"We think the dropping of sanctions would be too early," she said in Berlin at a meeting of the conservative CDU and its CSU Bavarian sister party, adding that the sanctions were in place due to Iran's suppression of its own population.

"We first have to see a change, a fundamental change in Iran for the dropping of sanctions," von der Leyen added.

‘We will not bow down,' says Hezbollah chief

“The sacrifices are great, but they are the price of liberation and dear life, borne by our great Lebanese people with their honourable resistance as a choice of two options: liberation and pride or occupation and humiliation”, Hezbollah Chief Naim Qassem said, according to Al Jazeera.

“We are continuing our defensive resistance for Lebanon and its people, we will not return to the pre-March [status quo], we will respond to the Israeli aggression, and confront it. No matter what the enemy threatens, we will not retreat, we will not bow down, we will not be defeated,” he said.

Qassem added that their potential is “inexhaustible” and vowed that Israel will not stay in Lebanon, and “our people will return to their lands until the last inch of our southern border with occupied Palestine.”

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem says direct negotiations are “out of the question” and his group will continue to resist and respond to Israeli “aggression”. “We will not give up weapons, and the defence and the field have proven our readiness for confrontation,” he said, according to Al Jazeera.

“The authorities [Lebanon’s government] rushed to make an unnecessary and gratuitous concession, and we categorically refuse direct negotiations [with Israel]. The authorities must stop direct negotiations and pursue a path of indirect negotiations,” Qassem added.

Read More: Israel releases 15 Gaza detainees with signs of emaciation, torture

The Hezbollah chief said Israel, with the support of the US, bet on ending the group, but it has not succeeded since September 23, 2024, when Israel began a campaign of air strikes across Lebanon, according to Al Jazeera.

“The enemy has reached a dead end, this resistance is continuous, strong and cannot be defeated,” he said.

Qassem rejected the Lebanese government’s talks with Israel and outlined five conditions that must be met before direct talks can occur.

“Stopping the aggression on land, sea and air, the withdrawal of Israel from the occupied territories, the release of prisoners, the return of the people to all their villages and towns and reconstruction,” he said.

“The Lebanese Authority is responsible for stopping direct negotiations with the Israeli enemy and adopting indirect ones, and to void its decision in March that criminalises the resistance and its public base, which is more than half of the Lebanese people, so that it can pursue an internal dialogue that puts the interest of Lebanon above all consideration without succumbing to Israeli and foreign dictates,” Qassem said, as per Al Jazeera.

Safe transit

Asked whether cancelling signalled renewed fighting, Trump said: "No, it doesn't mean that." On Saturday, Araghchi met Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and FM Ishaq Dar, before travelling to Oman and returning to Islamabad. He later left for Russia for talks with senior officials, his ministry said.

Russian and Iranian state media confirmed Araghchi's talks with Putin, citing officials from their respective governments.

Araghchi himself posted on X that the talks in Oman had focused on ensuring safe transit through Hormuz, "to benefit of all dear neighbours and the world". "Our neighbours are our priority," he added.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had no intention of lifting their blockade, which has roiled energy markets.

"Controlling the Strait of Hormuz and maintaining the shadow of its deterrent effects over America and the White House's supporters in the region is the definitive strategy of Islamic Iran," the Guards said on their official Telegram channel.

The United States has imposed a blockade of Iranian ports in retaliation.

Israel strikes Lebanon

At least one person has been killed in an Israeli drone attack in the town of Qalila, southern Lebanon, the NNA news agency reported, according to Al Jazeera.

Israel and Hezbollah traded blame over violations of the fragile ceasefire in Lebanon, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the military was "vigorously" targeting the Iran-backed militia as both sides claimed new attacks.

Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 by firing rockets at Israel to avenge the death of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei, with Israel responding with strikes and a ground invasion.

But claims that both sides have breached a 10-day ceasefire agreed earlier this month have continued.

Netanyahu told Sunday's weekly cabinet meeting that Hezbollah's actions were "dismantling the ceasefire" while Hezbollah said it would respond to Israeli violations and its "continued occupation".

Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes on the country's south on Sunday killed 14 people, including two women and two children, and wounded 37.

The state-run National News Agency reported that Israeli warplanes had struck after evacuation warnings in Kfar Tibnit.

An Israeli strike on Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, another of the flagged villages, destroyed a mosque and another religious building, the news agency said.

Israel, which reported a soldier killed in combat in south Lebanon, says it can act against "planned, imminent or ongoing attacks".

"This means freedom of action not only to respond to attacks...but also to pre-empt immediate threats and even emerging threats," Netanyahu said.