US-Iran war "very difficult conflict": Putin says no evidence of Tehran "striving for nuclear weapons"

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday local time described the ongoing hostilities between the United States and Iran pertaining to the West Asia region as a very difficult conflict while asserting that there is no evidence suggesting Tehran is pursuing nuclear weaponsSpeaking to the media after the Victory Day Parade here Putin said Russia maintains good relations with both Iran and other Persian Gulf nations and continues to engage with both sides to seek a resolution to the ongoing crisisAs for Iran and the United States its a very difficult conflict It puts us in a difficult position because we have good relations with Iran and with the Persian Gulf nations We maintain contact with both sides I hope that this conflict will be brought to an end as soon as possible I believe no one is interested in keeping it going Putin said adding that compromises remain possibleSpeaking on Irans alleged ambition to acquire a nuclear weapon and its border nuclear programme Putin highlighted Russias past cooperation in 2015 and emphasised that ongoing projects including the Bushehr nuclear plant in Iran remain focused on peaceful energy purposesWe had already once done it in 2015 And then Iran fully and not without reason trusted us We continue the nuclear programmes in Iran we completed the construction of Bushehr Our work on peaceful atoms is not susceptible to the current situation We did it in 2015 and it was a foundation for signing the treaty among all interested countries and Iran It played a very positive role I said once again that we are ready to repeat just that the Russian President saidPutin further noted that Russia has never found evidence of Iran seeking to develop nuclear weaponsIf everybody agrees to it Iran can be fully confident that it will export these materials to a friendly country that has cooperated and will continue to cooperate on the peaceful atom and it doesnt strive to weaponise it We have never once said that there is any evidence about Irans striving for nuclear weapons And all other participants in my view also could be interested he addedPutin recalled previous initiatives to manage Irans uranium program including proposals to process uranium in joint ventures under international supervision emphasising that all operations would be overseen by the United Nations nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency IAEAHe added that Russias offers remain on the table to ensure Irans nuclear materials are handled safely and peacefullyOur offers are still on the table Putin saidFirst we could see how much uranium there is Second it would all be under the control of the IAEA And third the work would be organised under the supervision of the IAEA We just want to make a possible contribution If this doesnt suit anyone then so be it he addedIrans nuclear programme has always remained a central issue in ongoing diplomatic tensions between Washington and Tehran as part of the negotiations in order to achieve a complete solution to the hostilities in West AsiaThe US has been demanding firm limits on Tehrans nuclear enrichment while the Islamic Republic insists it has the right to pursue nuclear energy for peaceful purposesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever