Russia Offers to Mediate Between Israel and Iran, Willing to Accept Tehran's Uranium

The Kremlin announced on Monday that Russia is still prepared to serve as a mediator in the Israel-Iran conflict. It also reaffirmed that its earlier proposal to store Iranian uranium on Russian territory is still available.

Tehran says it has the right to peaceful nuclear power, but its swiftly-advancing uranium enrichment program has raised fears in the wider West and across the Gulf that it wants to develop a nuclear weapon, The Caspian Post reports citing The Jerusalem Post.

Before Israel launched strikes on the Islamic Republic, Russia said last week that it stood ready to remove highly enriched uranium from Iran and convert it into civilian reactor fuel as a potential way to calm the crisis.

"This proposal remains on the table, it remains relevant. But, of course, with the outbreak of hostilities, the situation has become seriously complicated," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

US President Donald Trump expressed optimism on Sunday that peace would come soon and cited the possibility that Russian President Vladimir Putin could help.

Russia, Peskov said, remained ready to mediate if needed, but he noted the root causes of the conflict needed to be addressed and eliminated, and that the military strikes were escalating the entire crisis to beyond serious levels.

"Russia remains ready to do everything necessary to eliminate the root causes of this crisis," Peskov said. "But the situation is escalating more than seriously, and, of course, this is not affecting the situation for the better."