By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-04 13:01:34 | Updated at 2025-03-04 16:10:19
3 hours ago
Russia agreed to assist President Donald Trump’s administration in communicating with Iran on issues including the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme and its support for regional anti-US proxies, according to people familiar with the situation.
Trump relayed that interest directly to President Vladimir 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 familiar with the matter in Moscow said, declining to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.
White House officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither Russia nor Iran have publicly confirmed or denied the request.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that “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 help.
“Given the significance of these matters, it’s possible that many parties will show good will and readiness to help with various problems,” the spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, said during a televised press conference on Monday in Tehran. “From this perspective, it’s natural that countries will present an offer of help if it’s needed.” The ministry did not respond to questions from Bloomberg News.
