Kremlin Says Trump Welcomed Russia’s Role on Iran as Tehran and Washington Trade Threats

On Friday 9 October Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump spoke by phone, a call that produced the Russian diesel announcement covered in our reading of the diesel deal. It also produced a second claim, from the Kremlin: that Trump welcomed Russian involvement in the Iran settlement, Middle East Eye reported, citing Reuters.

Our piece on Putin’s mediation offer to Pezeshkian listed a US response to Moscow as the thing to watch. The only response so far is the Kremlin’s account of one.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin told Trump that Russia’s offer to take Iran’s highly enriched uranium “remains in force” and that Trump welcomed Moscow’s involvement. We found no US readout of that part of the call. Pezeshkian had told Putin a day earlier that talks with Washington end in new attacks, and Iran’s parliament speaker answered Rubio’s Hormuz claim with a threat that Rubio would “kneel”. Trump told a Nebraska rally on 5 October that the war will end quickly.

Ushakov briefed reporters after the call. According to TASS, he said Putin told Trump that “our proposal to transfer Iran’s highly enriched uranium to Russia as a possible way out of the impasse remains in force.” Ushakov added that Trump acknowledged the remark and welcomed Moscow’s involvement in resolving the situation around Tehran. Middle East Eye, citing Reuters, carried the same Kremlin account.

Axios reported in March, under the headline “Scoop: Trump rejected Putin offer to move Iran’s uranium to Russia”, that Washington had turned it down once before.

On Thursday 8 October, in Avaza, Turkmenistan, at the Commonwealth of Independent States summit, Putin met Pezeshkian. Putin said, in remarks carried by the Times of Israel from AFP: “We are ready to do everything that is in our power to contribute to the settlement of this situation.” Pezeshkian, according to AFP via Al-Monitor, told Putin: “We are engaged in dialogue, but every time we negotiate with the United States, they attack again.” In his summit speech he said: “Negotiation conducted in the shadow of force is not negotiation, it is imposition and coercion.”

Rubio, speaking to reporters in Athens on Wednesday 7 October, said of Hormuz, in ARY News’s report: “There’s almost as much oil flowing out now as there was before this conflict began. So, they’ve lost complete control of the Straits.” He added: “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, simple, period, end of story.”

Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf replied to Rubio on X on Friday, according to Mehr News Agency, whose headline reads “You will kneel before Iranians.” Mehr is an Iranian state-linked agency and the only outlet we found carrying the exchange.

In Nebraska on 5 October, he said, in Israel National News’s report: “The war will end very quickly, and prices are going to come down very sharply.” In Baltimore the next day he offered a choice between “the nice way or the not-so-nice way,” Israel National News reported. The Soufan Center’s 8 October IntelBrief quotes him: “Now I have to make a decision: either Iran signs the deal, or it won’t exist any longer.” It also quotes Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi: “If our enemies again choose the path of military confrontation, our response will be stronger than before.” Al Jazeera’s live blog said Trump told a Syracuse rally on Friday that he expects to “settle or win” the conflicts involving Iran and Ukraine.

The first marker is a US statement on the uranium offer. Confirmation from the White House would give Russia a role. Silence or a denial would leave the welcome as Moscow’s claim alone.

The second is the trip by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. Russian outlets, citing Axios, report they may fly to Moscow next week, and TASS carries Dmitry Peskov saying they are “always welcome in Moscow.”

The third is Tehran’s answer to Washington and whether anything happens before 3 November. Until then the uranium offer is a Russian account of a private call.