With wartime conditions described at home, Pezeshkian heads to a summit to meet Putin
President Masoud Pezeshkian told state television that sanctions are hurting Iran's economy and that the country must accept wartime conditions, while Tehran's governor said the naval blockade had made governing exceptional and that more than 1,200 electricity sites in the province were hit. As those domestic strains were aired, Pezeshkian is due in Bishkek for a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit where he is set to meet Vladimir Putin days after a rare CIA director visit to Moscow.
Geopolitics··Midday
Tehran leaders describe an economy under blockade
President Masoud Pezeshkian told state television that sanctions were hurting the economy, saying the country is in a war situation and must accept wartime conditions. Tehran's governor, Mohammad Sadeq Motamedian, said the naval blockade had made running the country exceptional and unique, and that more than 1,200 electricity sites in Tehran province were hit during the war. Under a June memorandum meant to end the war, lifting the blockade and reopening the Strait of Hormuz were central provisions; the talks stalled over security guarantees and freedom of navigation. The International Maritime Organization said on Friday that up to 400 ships and about 6,000 seafarers are still unable to leave the Gulf safely.[1]
Pezeshkian travels to a summit of sanctioned partners
About 12 heads of state are due in the Kyrgyz capital on Monday for a two-day summit marking 25 years of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a bloc that now runs from Russia and China to India, Pakistan, Iran, four Central Asian states and Belarus. Iran is represented by President Masoud Pezeshkian, and the plenary chaired by Kyrgyz leader Sadyr Japarov also seats Putin, Xi, Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif. Kremlin spokesman Yuri Ushakov said Putin would also hold separate bilateral talks, among them with Pezeshkian and Xi. The summit falls four and a half years into Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and six months into the war between Washington and Tehran. Russia and Iran, among the most heavily sanctioned states in the world, deepened their military and economic ties sharply during the Ukraine war. Donald Trump has warned Moscow and Beijing against arming Iran.[2]
Putin's meeting with Pezeshkian follows a CIA visit to Moscow
Putin's meeting with Pezeshkian comes days after CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a rare trip to Moscow. Beyond its 10 members the organisation now counts 15 dialogue partners, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and two observers, Afghanistan and Mongolia. The Bishkek gathering thus places Iran's wartime leadership alongside Russia and China at a forum framed as countering Western influence, even as Pezeshkian publicly describes sanctions and blockade pressure at home. Hormuz reopening talks remain stalled on security guarantees and navigation freedom.[2], [1]
