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Putin hosts Iran’s national security chief Mohsen Rezaei at the Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin met Iran’s secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, at the Kremlin on November 5. The talks took place three days after their phone call, amid Qatar’s mediation efforts and reports of a possible resumption of the US military operation against Iran.
RuskiGazeta Editorial DeskUpdated:
Russian President Vladimir Putin received Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, at the Kremlin on Thursday, November 5. Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov announced the meeting. “President Vladimir Putin received Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who is in Moscow,” Interfax quoted him as saying.
TASS and RIA Novosti reported that the meeting took place in the president’s reception room at the Senate Palace. Russia was represented by presidential aide Yuri Ushakov and GRU chief Igor Kostyukov. Details of the talks had not been officially disclosed at the time of publication.
Footage released by TASS without sound shows Putin greeting Rezaei, who arrived at the Kremlin wearing the general’s uniform of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and shaking hands with members of the Iranian delegation. The delegations then took their seats opposite each other at an oval negotiating table.
Three days after their phone call
Putin and Rezaei held a phone call on November 2, before their in-person meeting. Tasnim reported that, “as part of high-level consultations,” the sides discussed “the current situation in the region and the world, with particular emphasis on West Asia,” and stressed the need to continue the two countries’ strategic partnership on the basis of an action plan developed by their senior leadership. Fars reported that Rezaei thanked the Russian side for its support for Iran, including statements supporting the deceased Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Russian-Iranian contacts have intensified in recent weeks. On October 19, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Tehran—Reuters reported that it was his first visit since the start of the war in the Middle East. On October 27, Putin met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit in Moscow. On October 29, Peskov said Moscow was ready to mediate in the conflict between the United States and Iran if asked to do so.
Who is Mohsen Rezaei?
Rezaei is a former commander-in-chief of the IRGC, which he led from 1981 to 1997, and a military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader. President Pezeshkian appointed him secretary of the Supreme National Security Council by decree on August 10, 2026. Rezaei succeeded Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who became political adviser to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
US Vice President JD Vance’s letter proposing direct talks was addressed to Rezaei, and became known about in late October. In an interview with Iranian television channel IRINN on October 31, he said he had read the letter but had not yet replied. The council’s previous secretary, Ali Larijani, met Putin in Moscow in October 2025 and on January 30, 2026.
Amid the risk of renewed escalation
The war in the Middle East began on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran. A ceasefire was announced in April, but Reuters noted that tensions around the Strait of Hormuz remain, while the United States supports a naval blockade of Iranian ports.
Axios reported that US forces were completing preparations for a possible resumption of the military operation and were deploying additional forces to the region. At the same time, the outlet reported that Qatari mediators were preparing an agreement that could prevent escalation and pave the way for direct talks between Washington and Tehran. That same day, Türkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi discussed the progress of Tehran’s talks with Washington by phone.
On November 5, Russia’s Foreign Ministry again urged citizens not to travel to Iran. “As before, we recommend temporarily refraining from traveling to this country until the situation is resolved,” ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said, citing the continuing risks of renewed escalation.
Russia and Iran are linked by a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty, which Putin and Pezeshkian signed in Moscow on January 17, 2025. The document entered into force in October 2025.
Video: TASS / social media. Photo: Sergey Bobylev / Kremlin.ru, Mehr News (CC BY 4.0); Alexxx1979 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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