Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has called for expanded energy cooperation between Iran and Russia and closer coordination among gas-producing countries, in an article published by the Russian newspaper Vedomosti on Monday, Iran's Press TV reported. State news agency IRNA, cited in Monday reporting, said Araghchi offered a seven-day plan to reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz and urged international cooperation to secure energy supplies and stabilise global gas markets.

Source: Press TV, Oct 26

Citing International Energy Agency estimates, Araghchi said more than 112 billion cubic metres of liquefied natural gas (LNG) passed through the strait in 2025, accounting for approximately one-fifth of global LNG trade, and that 90 percent of the gas transiting the strait is consumed in Asian markets. He said European gas prices had risen sharply and storage levels ahead of winter remained significantly below those recorded a year earlier.

Source: Press TV, Oct 26; IRNA via Pakistan TV, Oct 26

112 bcmLNG that Araghchi said passed through Hormuz in 2025, citing IEA estimates
~20%Share of global LNG trade Araghchi attributed to the strait
90%Share of transiting gas Araghchi said is consumed in Asia

The seven-day plan, restated

Towards resolving the issues surrounding the strait, Araghchi said Iran had offered a Seven-Day Plan, whose implementation was conditioned on the other side fulfilling Iran's conditions and on the elimination of military threats, Press TV reported. Iran has previously named conditions including cessation of aggression on all fronts, removal of the US naval blockade Tehran calls illegal, lifting of sanctions it calls illegal, and unfreezing of Iran's frozen assets — all as stated by the Iranian side. In the article, Araghchi attributed the closure of the strait and the disruption to global gas supplies to US and Israeli military action against Iran; that attribution is Tehran's position, not an independently settled account.

Source: Press TV, Oct 26

Moscow and the gas producers' summit

Araghchi said President Masoud Pezeshkian was set to pursue greater cooperation in Moscow alongside counterparts from 11 gas-producing countries during a pending visit to the Russian capital, where he is expected to address the eighth summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), Press TV and IRNA both reported. Araghchi said Iran has the second-largest proven natural gas reserves globally, behind Russia, according to the GECF, and identified Russian investment in Iranian oil and gas fields, technology transfer, equipment supply and joint technical capabilities as key areas of cooperation. Citing the GECF's Global Gas Outlook 2055, he said 86 percent of global gas production by 2055 was expected to come from fields not currently producing.

Source: Press TV, Oct 26; IRNA via Pakistan TV, Oct 26

What is solid

  • Araghchi published the article in Vedomosti on Monday calling for closer Iran-Russia and gas-producer coordination, and restated the seven-day Hormuz plan with its conditions (Press TV; IRNA)
  • Pezeshkian is expected in Moscow for the eighth GECF summit alongside 11 gas-producing countries (Press TV; IRNA)

What is only claimed

  • Araghchi's attribution of the strait's closure and the gas disruption to US and Israeli action, and Tehran's characterisation of the US blockade and sanctions as illegal — these are Iran's stated positions, disputed by Washington and its allies, and no US response to the article appears in these reports

Araghchi concluded, in Press TV's account, that lasting stability in global energy markets required constructive dialogue, mutual respect and fulfilment of commitments, and that the outcome depended on political will from all relevant parties, including Washington.

Source: Press TV, Oct 26