MOSCOW — Russia and the United States remain far apart on Iran, election interference and a host of world crises, the nations’ top diplomats made clear Tuesday, despite President Vladimir V. Putin’s expressed hope that the end of the special counsel’s investigation would clear the way for fully restored relations.

In the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, both Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described their discussion as “frank,” often diplomat-speak to describe disagreements verging on testy, and they bemoaned the state of affairs between the two nations. “It is clear that our relations have seen better times,” Mr. Lavrov said.

During a joint news conference, Mr. Pompeo had some particularly sharp words on Russia’s election meddling, telling his counterpart that “interference in American elections is unacceptable, and if the Russians were engaged in that in 2020 it would put our relationship in an even worse place than it has been.”

Much of the world’s attention is riveted currently on the Persian Gulf region, where the Trump administration is pressuring Iran with harsh economic sanctions and military deployments, and where mysterious attacks have been reported this week on oil tankers and pipelines of Iran’s great rival, Saudi Arabia, raising fears of a coming violent conflict.