Updated

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian traveled to Turkmenistan to attend the Commonwealth of Independent States summit and an environmental summit on the Caspian Sea, meeting with leaders including Russia's Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijan's Ilham Aliyev, and Turkmenistan's Serdar Berdimuhamedov, as well as the SCO secretary-general. He proposed a long-term regional plan to address the Caspian Sea's falling water level and emphasized Iran's strategic role connecting Central Asia and Eurasia to open waters. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held talks with Russian and Azerbaijani counterparts on the summit sidelines and separately spoke by phone with Armenia's foreign minister. Pezeshkian returned to Tehran after the trip, which Iranian state media framed as evidence the country cannot be isolated despite US economic pressure.