Putin relays Iran’s view on peace deal to Trump

Kremlin says Russian leader discussed issue with Iranian counterpart this week

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Donald Trump about Iran’s position on a possible Mideast peace deal, the Kremlin said Saturday.

The Kremlin said Tehran’s stance was relayed in a phone call held between the two leaders on Friday. It did not say how Trump responded, nor elaborate on Iran’s position.

Diplomatic efforts to end the more-than-seven-month-long Iran conflict, which began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February, have been at an impasse since the summer.

Putin met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a summit in Turkmenistan earlier this week, where the Russian leader expressed an interest in helping broker peace.

“In coordination with the Iranian president, Putin conveyed the Iranian side’s views on a possible resolution to the conflict to Trump,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Saturday, according to Russia’s state RIA news agency.

The United States and Iran agreed a memorandum of understanding in June that spelled out a framework for ending their conflict, but Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz prompted a resumption of US military operations.

Recent indirect talks between Washington and Tehran on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly failed to produce a breakthrough.