Russia calls for ‘political’ settlement over Iran as Trump says US talking to Tehran

Russia on Monday (Mar 23) called for a “political and diplomatic” settlement to the Middle East war just as US President Donald Trump claimed that Washington and Tehran had held talks on ending the conflict.

Trump said Monday the two sides had, over the last two days, held “very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities”.

Trump also said he had ordered a halt to threatened strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure, after earlier issuing an ultimatum for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The waterway has remained effectively closed since the start of the war sparked on Feb 28 by US-Israeli bombardment of Iran.

In a call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Russia’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov urged an “immediate cessation of hostilities and a political settlement that takes into account the legitimate interests of all parties involved, above all Iran,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a readout of the call, which Moscow said was initiated by Iran.

There was no mention of US-Iran talks - which have not been confirmed by Tehran - in the Russian statement. 

Iranian media said on Monday there were no negotiations between Tehran and Washington, despite Trump’s claim.

“There are no talks between Tehran and Washington,” said Mehr news agency citing Iran’s foreign ministry, adding that Trump’s statements were part of a push “to reduce energy prices”.

Russia is one of the Islamic republic’s closest allies and has slammed the US-Israeli strikes on the country, but has not publicly offered military support.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had earlier said the “situation should have transitioned to a political and diplomatic settlement”.

“This is the only thing that can effectively contribute to defusing the catastrophically tense situation that has now developed in the region,” Peskov told reporters at a briefing.

He was speaking before Trump’s statement that talks had taken place.

Russia - which helped build Iran’s only operational nuclear power plant at Bushehr - has warned against strikes that could endanger the site that the UN’s nuclear watchdog announced last week was hit by a projectile.

“Of course, this poses a very serious security threat if this trend continues,” Peskov said Monday.

“We consider strikes on nuclear facilities to be potentially extremely dangerous and fraught with, perhaps even irreversible, consequences,” he added.

Source: AFP

- Agencies