MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to visit Iran in mid-August in an effort to restart talks on Iran’s controversial nuclear programme.
Putin’s first trip to the Islamic Republic since 2007 will come shortly after Iran’s new president Hassan Rowhani formally takes office on August 3, Russia’s Kommersant daily reported on Wednesday.
“I cannot so far confirm this,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a foreign news agency.
Moscow hopes the visit will provide impetus to restart the currently stalled talks on Iran’s nuclear programme, the newspaper said.
The Russian President’s trip would take place August 12-13, Kommersant cited a source in the Iranian foreign ministry reported. It said a Kremlin source confirmed the trip, but said it was not yet decided whether it would last one or two days.