Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to help President Donald Trump's administration broker talks with Iran on the country's nuclear program and its support for proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah, sources familiar with the situation are reporting.
Trump relayed his interest in the talks while speaking with Putin during a phone call in February, with his administration's officials discussing the situation during talks in Saudi Arabia after, reports Bloomberg on Tuesday, citing sources who declined to be identified because of the issue's sensitivity.
Russia and Iran have not publicly confirmed or denied the request, and the White House did not immediately respond to Bloomberg's request for comment.
But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, while responding to questions sent by the outlet, that "Russia believes that the United States and Iran should resolve all problems through negotiations."
He added that Moscow "is ready to do everything in its power to achieve this."
Esmaeil Baghaei, a spokesman for Iran's foreign ministry, said it is "natural" for countries to offer to help, given the significance of the matters.
"It's possible that many parties will show good will and readiness to help with various problems," he said during a press conference Monday in Tehran. "From this perspective, it's natural that countries will present an offer of help if it's needed."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, along with other top officials from both countries, reportedly discussed Washington's interest in Moscow helping to broker the Iranian talks during their Feb. 18 meeting in Riyadh, sources with knowledge of the talks reported.
Lavrov shared details about the meeting with Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi when they later spoke in Tehran, Araghchi said in a press conference.
Meanwhile, Trump has been sending mixed messages about Iran after his return ot the White House. He has said that he wants to bring back the "maximum pressure" policy of his first administration, but also says he wants to start working on a "verified nuclear peace agreement with Iran" immediately.
Russia and Iran have both been heavily sanctioned by the United States, leaving them to cooperate on several factors, including Russia's use of numerous Iranian-made drones for its strikes against Ukraine.
But Iranian hardliners who dominate the country's military and judiciary publicly oppose any engagement with the United States and may not be open to any overtures, even if delivered by Russia.
Further, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in February that Trump can not be trusted after withdrawing from the Obama-era nuclear agreement during his first term, and insisted that Iran will not be pushed into negotiating.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian supports reviving the nuclear deal but said he backs Khameini's opposition to talks while the United States still holds sanctions over the country.
Nikolay Kozhanov, an associate professor at Qatar University's Gulf Studies Center, commented that Iran and the United States are trying to find productive channels of communications, but an understanding would be "complex" with the U.S. offering sanction relief while Iran agrees to contain regional ambitions.