INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
TEHRAN – Iran has delivered a so-called “peace initiative” for ending the Ukraine war, proposed by a European leader, to Russia, Al
Jazeera reported.Standing next to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a news conference in Moscow on Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign
Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian confirmed that he had handed over the European proposal that he said was given to Iran’s President
Ebrahim Raisi.“There are ideas to help establish peace and stop the fighting in Ukraine, and I shared these ideas with Mr
Lavrov,” Amir Abdollahian said.He did not name the European leader behind the initiative or reveal any further details but said the
proposal includes points on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant and prisoners of war.Recent shelling around the plant in southeastern Ukraine has
spurred fears of a possible nuclear disaster and prompted the International Atomic Energy Agency to deploy experts to visit the site.Russia
and Ukraine have traded blame over the firefights, accusing each other of risking citizens’ safety.The ISNA news agency reported earlier
on Wednesday that French President Emmanuel Macron was the leader who relayed the message to Tehran, but no officials have commented on the
issue.Mohammad Jamshidi, the political deputy to the Iranian president, tweeted on Wednesday that Amir Abdollahian had “a peace initiative
and an important message” from “a top Western European leader”.Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24 this year,
Iran has relayed messages between Moscow and Kyiv several times, but this is the first publicized instance of Tehran delivering a message
from Europe.The Islamic republic has repeatedly stated that fighting must stop through dialogue
Tehran says NATO expansion is the root of the problem.
