Why is the Russian foreign minister visiting Iran now?

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to Tehran has sparked speculation in Iranian media about whether he is carrying a message from Washington or pushing Moscow’s own agenda at Iran’s expense.

Tehran and Moscow say Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, will discuss mutual relations, trade, and economic cooperation, as well as key international issues, including the situation in Syria, during the one-day visit.

The visit follows discussions in Ankara on Monday and comes just a week after his meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Riyadh.

Delivering a message from the United States to Iran?

Iranian media, analysts, and the public have closely scrutinized recent visits by high-ranking foreign officials to Tehran, including Lavrov and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who met with Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei last week. These visits are widely interpreted as potential mediation efforts between Tehran and Washington or as channels for delivering messages from the Trump administration.

A commentary published Tuesday by Iran’s official news agency, IRNA, acknowledged that the purpose of Lavrov’s visit might extend beyond the official agenda. However, it argued that many experts doubt Lavrov is carrying a direct message from the Trump administration. Instead, it suggested that Lavrov might share his assessment of Washington’s approach to Iran and relay Iran’s desired roadmap back to the US in a similar manner.

The commentary also speculated that Lavrov could be conveying Moscow’s own message to Tehran, warning against shifting Iran’s nuclear doctrine or withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), as some Iranian ultra-hardliners advocate.

Speaking to the reformist Etemad daily, foreign policy analyst Abdolreza Faraji-Rad cast doubt on the likelihood of Lavrov delivering a direct US message to Tehran.

If such a message were being conveyed, he suggested it might involve Washington offering a temporary reduction in “maximum pressure” sanctions—reimposed by Trump’s executive order on January 20—in exchange for Iran agreeing to direct negotiations over its nuclear program.

Others suggested that Lavrov is simply planning to inform the Islamic Republic about its changing relations with the Trump administration and Ukraine negotiations.

Concerns about Iran being used by Russia as a bargaining chip

Some Iranian media and analysts warned that Iran could be betrayed by Russia and become a bargaining chip in potential negotiations between the Trump and Putin administrations, particularly regarding the Ukraine conflict.

A commentary published Tuesday by Khabar Online, a news outlet close to former conservative Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, compared Lavrov’s recent meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the planned Trump-Putin meeting compared by some to the Yalta Conference of February 1945, which reshaped global geopolitics. The article warned that “Iran is also in danger.”

Khabar Online also quoted former chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, who argued that Iran is merely a bargaining chip in these negotiations. “I am concerned that Iran may be sacrificed for peace [in Ukraine],” he stated.

Reza Taghizadeh, a Glasgow-based Iranian political commentator, echoed similar concerns on X, speculating that “Lavrov's goal in Tehran is to convince the Islamic Republic to surrender its nuclear program and disband the ‘axis of resistance’ in exchange for avoiding an Israeli military attack and blocking [its] oil exports! … Are the Russians securing [concessions from the US over] Ukraine while offering up Iran [in return]?”