DUBAI, June 22 (Reuters) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Iran on Wednesday, Iranian state television reported, as world powers and Tehran struggle to revive their 2015 nuclear pact and talks are at a standstill.

The Russian Foreign Ministry released an excerpt from Lavrov’s opening speech at a meeting with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in which he said Moscow was adjusting to what he called the government’s aggressive policies. ‘West.

“In all countries negatively influenced by the selfish line taken by the United States and its satellites, there arises the objective need to reconfigure their economic relations so that they can avoid dependence on the whims and whims of our Western partners. “, Lavrov said. .

Last month, Moscow said Russia and Iran, which are both under Western sanctions and have some of the world’s largest oil and gas reserves, had discussed swapping supplies for oil and gas. as well as the creation of a logistics center.

As Moscow challenges Western sanctions on Ukraine, clerical leaders in Tehran are struggling to keep Iran’s economy afloat due to US sanctions that were reimposed after Washington quit the Tehran nuclear deal in 2018 .

“During Lavrov’s visit, the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the strengthening of bilateral and energy cooperation, as well as international and regional issues will be discussed,” Iranian state media reported.

Iranian state TV showed Lavrov meeting Raisi, but gave no details. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Lavrov’s visit was aimed at “expanding cooperation with the Eurasian region and the Caucasus.”

Indirect talks between Tehran and US President Joe Biden’s administration to reinstate the pact have been suspended since March, mainly due to Tehran’s insistence that Washington remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the US list of organizations designated terrorists.

Iran’s state news agency IRNA said Lavrov would meet his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, on Thursday.

Written by Parisa Hafezi and David Ljunggren; Editing by Nick Macfie and Grant McCool

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.