Ayatollah sends secret message to Russia – report

Desperate to reach a deal with the US to avoid war, Iran’s supreme leader reportedly sent a secret message to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

By World Israel News Staff

Iran’s supreme leader recently sent a secret message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, as part of a bid to avoid a war with the United States, two Iranian officials said in a report published by The New York Times on Monday.

According to the two officials, Iran is desperately attempting to placate the US and prevent the outbreak of a major conflict, fearing that a new war could rekindle nationwide protests and potentially topple the regime.

Several days ago, the officials claimed, the secretary of Iran’s National Security Council, Ali Larijani, traveled to Moscow for talks with President Putin, during which he conveyed a message from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The 86-year-old Shi’ite cleric is said to have informed Putin that Iran is prepared to transfer its stockpile of enriched uranium to Russia as part of a new nuclear agreement with the US.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Russia is still willing to secure Iran’s uranium stockpile in an effort to broker a deal de-escalating tensions in the region.

Russia administered most of Iran’s stockpile of 20% enriched uranium for several years following the signing of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

After the Trump administration pulled the US out of the JCPOA in 2018, however, Iran began requesting Moscow return its enriched uranium. At least several batches of the 20% enriched uranium were transferred from Russia to Iran following America’s departure from the nuclear deal.

While Khamenei reportedly indicated that the regime is willing to resume this arrangement, Iranian officials told the Times that Tehran hopes that the US will agree to settle on terms offered by the Trump administration several months ago, under which a new regional consortium would administer the uranium stockpile.