Russia Ready To Help Iran, Says Has ‘Every Right’ To Nuclear Energy Program

The Kremlin has announced Monday that Russia stands ready to help Iran in its ongoing conflict with Israel and the United States in the Middle East, based on specific requests.

Such assistance “all depends on what Iran needs,” presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained, as quoted in TASS. “We have offered our mediation efforts. This is concrete. We have stated our position, which is also a very important form of support for the Iranian side.”

“Going forward, everything will depend on what Iran needs at this moment,” Peskov continued, while Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is currently in Moscow, preparing to meet with President Vladimir Putin.

“Just today, the Iranian Foreign Minister [Abbas Araghchi] will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where they will be able to exchange views in the wake of this traumatic escalation,” Peskov stated. That’s when he made clear, “And, in fact, the Iranian side will be able to inform us about its proposals and its vision of the current situation.”

It is highly unlikely that Moscow would actually give any level of direct military assistance, but it could possibly come in the form of safety, containment, or logistical help at now damaged nuclear facilities, following American forces’ weekend bombings of three key sites.

Earlier in the week, the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that a ‘number of countries’ are now ready to supply Iran with ‘their own nuclear warheads’ – but this is typical of the former Russian president’s hyperbole and bravado aimed at the West.

Also on Monday, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova explained Moscow’s view that Iran has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, like any other country.

In reference to something that US Vice President JD Vance previously said about Russia and China not wanting Iran to develop nuclear weapons, she said, “First, Russia and China do not want the United States to interfere in their internal affairs in any form. And anyone making statements on behalf of, but not on behalf of, our two countries would do well to start with this.”

“For example, not to supply the Kyiv terrorist regime with deadly missiles, not to militarize Taiwan, etc. Secondly, Russia and China speak for themselves: the corresponding statements about the aggression of Israel and the United States were published by the Foreign Ministries of both countries,” she continued.

“Thirdly, Russia and China believe that Iran (like any other country) can and should determine its own strategy for the development of nuclear energy in accordance with international law, in particular the NPT, and other states can also base their attitude towards this on an international legal basis.”

And then, Zakharova said, “Fourthly, Iran created peaceful nuclear energy, which it has every right to do, and did not create nuclear weapons, which has been repeatedly confirmed by both Tehran itself and the IAEA.”

A hegemonic security strategy requires the US to weaken all major powers, rather than focusing on a single rival. Why would China assist the US in defeating Russia or pressuring Iran, when it knows it’s next on the hit list? pic.twitter.com/mWtQKIQhIy

— Glenn Diesen (@Glenn_Diesen) June 23, 2025

Then a history lesson:

Fifth, a little history. Perhaps the very first time the idea of ​​a nuclear-weapon-free Middle East was voiced was in a statement by the Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union, then the official voice of Moscow, on January 22, 1958: “The Near and Middle East should and can become a zone of peace where there are not and should not be nuclear and missile weapons, a zone of good neighborliness and friendly cooperation between states.” In 1974, the same Iran that is now under attack from Israel and the United States initiated a discussion of this topic at the UN General Assembly, which ended with the adoption of a resolution on the “Establishment of a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in the Middle East.” 128 countries voted “for,” including the Soviet Union and the United States. Israel abstained from voting. The USSR/Russia systematically advocated the creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East.

Iranian state media was quick to pick up these latest statements as Russia is standing with a regional ally with which it has had increased defense and trade ties, particularly since the start of the Ukraine war.

Ukraine and much of the West, meanwhile, see both Iran and North Korea as ‘rogue states’ who are helping fuel Putin’s war against Ukraine, and these have come under ratcheting US-led sanctions alongside Moscow.