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Russia Will Try to Appease Iran on Trump's Demand

Russia agreed to assist Trump’s administration in communicating with Iran on issues including the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program and its support for regional anti-US proxies, according to people familiar with the situation.

Trump relayed that interest directly to Putin in a phone call in February and top officials from his administration discussed the matter with their Russian counterparts at talks in Saudi Arabia days later, people said, declining to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

A White House official, who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations, said Russia offered to do the outreach without being asked to play that role.

Discussions are in their initial stages and it’s not clear whether any talks between the US and Iran would yield any progress.

“President Trump made clear by renewing his ‘Maximum Pressure’ order just days into his second term, the United States will not tolerate Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon or their support of terror in the Middle East and around the world,” White House spokesman Brian Hughes said.

“The Trump Administration will talk to our adversaries and allies alike, but he will always do so from a position of strength to defend our national security.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “Russia believes that the United States and Iran should resolve all problems through negotiations” and that Moscow “is ready to do everything in its power to achieve this.”

A spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, when asked if Russia had offered to mediate between Tehran and Washington, said it was “natural” for countries to offer their assistance.

Top US and Russian officials, including Secretary of State Rubio and Foreign Minister Lavrov, discussed Washington’s interest in Moscow helping with Iranian issues during a Feb. 18 meeting in Riyadh, according to people with knowledge of the situation, asking not to be identified as not all details of those talks have been made public.

Russia’s Lavrov later shared details about the US meeting with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi when they met in Tehran, Araghchi said in a televised press conference after the meeting.

#Iran #Putin #Trump

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