The Kremlin said on Wednesday that future talks between Russia and the United States would include discussions on Iran’s nuclear programme, a subject it said had been “touched upon” in an initial round of U.S.-Russia talks last month.

Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that Russia has agreed to assist U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration in communicating with Iran on various issues, including on Tehran’s nuclear programme and its support for regional anti-U.S. proxies.

The Kremlin has not confirmed that, but has made clear that Iran is now one of the subjects that will be discussed in more detail by Washington and Moscow.

Trump last month restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran which includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero in order to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Iran denies any such intention.

In a call with reporters on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia believed that problems around Iran’s nuclear programme needed to be resolved by diplomatic means.

Russia has deepened its ties with the Islamic Republic since the start of the Ukraine war, and signed a strategic cooperation treaty with Iran in January.

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