Around 1675, Luarsab and his elder brother, Archil, departed to the Ottoman-controlled Akhaltsikhe in a bid to acquire the Kingdom of Imereti, which was within the Ottoman sphere of influence.
[1] The Shah of Iran, Suleiman I, held Vakhtang V responsible for his sons as the king failed to bring them back to Kartli.
Vakhtang had to repair to the Shah of Iran Suleiman I to offer explanation, but he died on his way to Isfahan, being succeeded on the throne by his son George XI of Kartli.
George allowed Archil to escape to Imereti, but he had to assuage the shah's anger by sending Luarsab as an honorary hostage to Iran in 1679.
[5] Of his first marriage, Luarsab also had a daughter, Elene, whose hand was vainly sought from her uncle, George XI, by Alexander IV of Imereti.