Russian President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that the United States, Israel, and Iran had agreed to transfer enriched nuclear material from Iran to Russia, but that the arrangement ultimately collapsed after Washington reversed its position and demanded the material be sent only to the United States.
Speaking during a lengthy post-Victory Day press conference at the Kremlin following military commemorations in Moscow, Putin described the earlier negotiations as a missed opportunity to reduce tensions in the Persian Gulf and revive confidence in diplomacy surrounding Iran’s nuclear program.
“We didn’t just propose it; we already did it once, in 2015,” Putin said.
“Iran trusts us completely … and it has good reason to trust us, because, firstly, we’ve never violated any agreements.”
He added that Russia had previously accepted nuclear material transfers connected to the international agreement over Iran’s atomic activities.
“And initially, and this is sort of a secret, everyone agreed—representatives of the United States agreed, Iran agreed, and Israel agreed,” Putin told the press about more recent negotiations.
According to Putin, the deal unraveled when “the United States hardened its position and demanded that the uranium be transported only to the United States.”
He said that the shift prompted Iran to change its own stance and refuse to move the material abroad.
Putin recalled that former Iranian official Ali Larijani later informed Moscow that Tehran no longer supported the export of enriched uranium.
Russia already has a lot of uranium, so send it to them, and end this. Tell Israel to only bomb if they’re bombed and end it. Then again, how long would it take for Russia to give it back to them?