MOSCOW, Jan 16 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the situation in Iran in separate calls on Friday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and said that Moscow was willing to mediate in the region, the Kremlin said.
Tehran has cracked down hard on nationwide protests that broke out late last month, prompting U.S. President Donald Trump to warn he might intervene. Last year, Israel and the United States both bombed Iranian nuclear sites, and Iran fought a 12-day war with Israel.
Russia has pursued closer ties with Iran since the start of its war in Ukraine, and Putin last year signed a 20-year strategic partnership pact with Pezeshkian.
In the conversation with Netanyahu, the Kremlin said Putin set out ideas for boosting stability in the Middle East and expressed Russia’s willingness to “continue its mediation efforts and to promote constructive dialogue with the participation of all interested states”.
The Kremlin said it would provide a readout later on the call with Pezeshkian.
Any threat to the survival of the Iranian leadership would pose a serious concern for Moscow, 13 months after it lost another key Middle East ally with the toppling of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Earlier this month another Russian ally, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, was captured by the United States and brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges.
Asked what support Russia could provide to Iran, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “Russia is already providing assistance not only to Iran but also to the entire region, and to the cause of regional stability and peace. This is partly thanks to the president’s efforts to help de-escalate tensions.”
Western powers accuse Iran of having a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons, something Tehran denies. Russia says it supports Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear energy.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov, Ksenia Orlova and Lucy Papachristou; writing by Mark TrevelyanEditing by Andrew Osborn )
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