Iran denies seeking Russia’s mediation to contact the Americans, Israelis

Tabnak – As we’ve been approaching the long-awaited meeting between the presidents of Russia and United States over the past several days, rumors were raised that Iran has entered indirect negotiations with the Israelis. While rejecting these claims, Tehran also declares that no talks have been planned to be conducted with the US.

In this vein, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has dismissed as “a joke” allegations that Russia has mediated indirect talks between Iran and Israel. “Claims of this nature can never be true,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi told reporters in a press briefing on Monday.

“News like this sound more like a joke to those who are familiar with Iran’s foreign policy,” he added.

Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida claimed Friday that Moscow had arranged indirect talks between Tehran and Tel Aviv over a number of issues, including Iran’s peaceful nuclear program and its military presence in Syria.

The paper claimed that the recent trips to Moscow of senior Iranian official Ali Akbar Velayati and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were arranged by the Russian government to facilitate the alleged talks.

“Russia passed the Israeli demands to Tehran and asked [the Iranian government] to dispatch a representative with full power to reach a solution for the Iranian issue with Syria,” the paper quoted an unnamed diplomat as saying.

Velayati, a senior adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, traveled to Moscow on Wednesday to convey a message from Ayatollah Khamenei to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's written letter.

As a result, the Kuwaiti paper goes a step further, claiming that Velayati had set out Iran’s conditions for accepting US President Donald Trump’s demands regarding the Iranian nuclear program and asked Putin to discuss them with the US leader in their upcoming meeting in Finland on Monday.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman dismissed rumors that the country has delivered a message for the US president via Russia’s leader, saying political contacts between Russia and the US would have no impact on the Tehran-Moscow relations.

“We have no message for Mr. Trump and have not held any talks with the Russian government in this regard,” he added.

Commenting on a Monday meeting between Trump and Putin in Finland, Qassemi said he has no idea about the agenda of the meeting, adding, “Our relations with Russia and the definite and constant consultations have existed and will continue, both on bilateral and regional issues.”