Russia Blasts study It Backed Zero Enrichment Iran atomic Deal As 'Smear'

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Sunday blasted an Axios report claiming that President Vladimir Putin told Iranian officials he supports a nuclear agreement that would prohibit Iran from enriching uranium. The report claimed the Kremlin now backs America’s 'zero enrichment’ plan for Tehran as a basis for resuming talks.

The report also alleged that Putin conveyed the same stance in talks President Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron. The Iranians themselves were the first to say nothing like this was conveyed to them by Russia.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry called the claims „part of a new political smear campaign” aimed at increasing tensions over Iran’s nuclear energy activities.

Via Reuters

„Invariably and repeatedly, we have emphasized the necessity of resolving the crisis concerning Iran’s nuclear program exclusively through political and diplomatic means, and expressed our willingness to help find mutually acceptable solutions,” the statement read.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency has also cited a top official who said that Tehran had received no communication from Moscow about any proposed deal barring uranium enrichment.

Trump has previously threatened that another strike on Iran remains possible if it resumed its enrichment program.

The Wall Street Journal has also reported that Trump’s support for additional Israeli action could be triggered if Iran is perceived to be progressing toward a nuclear weapon – and yet still there’s no firm evidence that Tehran is pursuing one.

Both Washington and Tel Aviv have long simply expected the world to 'trust’ them when it comes to assertions that Tehran is bent on achieving a bomb.

And yet, the Western public would do well to remember the last time both capitals touted that an Mideast regime possessed WMD and thus posed an 'imminent threat’.

The recent 12-day war involved the US once again using WMD allegations as a pretext to attack a Middle East country, which it should be noted happens to border the other two countries also attacked by Washington: Iraq and Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Iranian officials insist that negotiations must be accompanied by concrete guarantees that neither the US nor Israel will attack during the diplomatic process; but the reality is that the June surprise attacks happened just as a 'good-faith’ negotiating process was unfolding, so Iran will have extreme difficulty trusting Washington ever again.