Russia agreed to assist U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration in communicating with Iran on issues including the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program and its support for regional anti-U.S. 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, the 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 U.S. and Iran would yield any progress.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.