Following high-level mediation efforts in Islamabad over the weekend, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held face-to-face talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Monday.

The diplomatic surge comes as US President Donald Trump convened his senior national security team to evaluate a fresh Iranian peace proposal, delivered via Pakistan, aimed at ending the months-long Middle East crisis and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

The White House confirmed the proposal called...