Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to help mediate talks between the Trump Administration and Iran on issues including the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program and its support for proxies in the Middle East, anonymous sources in Moscow with knowledge of the development told Bloomberg on Tuesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump raised the American request for assistance during the telephone call with Putin last month, according to Bloomberg’s sources.
The issue with Russia brokering negotiations with Iran was also raised during the U.S.-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia several days later, the sources said.
In his first two weeks in office, President Trump restored the “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran, to deny Iran all paths to a nuclear weapon, and countering Iran’s malign influence abroad.
“President Trump will not tolerate Iran possessing a nuclear weapons capability, nor will he stand for their sustained sponsorship of terrorism, especially against U.S. interests,” the White House said in early February.
The pressure campaign on Iran aims to drive its oil exports to zero. Last week, the U.S. Administration imposed additional sanctions on the Iranian shadow fleet, designating more than 30 people and vessels for selling and transporting Iranian petroleum-related products.
Despite the order for stricter enforcement of sanctions, President Trump has signaled a willingness to negotiate a new nuclear deal with Iran.
“I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper. We should start working on it immediately,” President Trump posted on social media platform Truth Social, a day after restoring the “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran.
Commenting on the possibility that Russia could mediate or help broker possible U.S. and Iran negotiations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to questions sent by Bloomberg that “Russia believes that the United States and Iran should resolve all problems through negotiations” and that Russia “is ready to do everything in its power to achieve this.”
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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