March 12, 2025

Don’t Trust Russia to Mediate the Iran Nuclear Deal

By: Jonathan Lord

This month, Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to mediate a new nuclear agreement between the United States and Iran after reportedly being asked to by U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone call in February. In a meeting hosted by Saudi Arabia, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio allegedly followed up on the president’s request in speaking with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Trump has made clear he wants a new deal with Iran. He said as much when he signed an executive order last month reimplementing the maximum pressure campaign. He did so again this month, reportedly, in a letter he sent directly to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The White House should immediately abandon this unwise pursuit. Simply put, Russia’s shared interests with Iran make it an unsuitable mediator and will surely work to undermine America’s interests in the Middle East and those of America’s partners and allies. Long an arsonist in the Middle East, Washington should distrust Moscow’s attempt to don a firefighter’s helmet now.

Preventing an Iranian nuclear weapon is of critical importance to U.S. security and the security of Israel and partners throughout the Middle East.

Believing Putin shares America’s long-held, bipartisan interest in forever preventing the development of an Iranian bomb is tantamount to believing the wolf can negotiate on behalf of the fox to reach a nonaggression pact with the hen house. The wolf and the fox are more likely to carve up the chickens between them than negotiate a deal in good faith that preserves the poultry.

With respect to Europe, Trump has shifted U.S. policy precipitously. Whereas former President Joe Biden sought to work with NATO allies to support Ukraine’s defense against an illegal and unprovoked war of aggression by Russia, Trump has swung away from Kyiv, openly criticizing Ukraine and America’s European allies for being ungrateful for U.S. support and insufficiently capable of providing for their own security. While Trump clearly seeks rapprochement with Russia over the future of Ukraine, it would be an error to invite Moscow to play intermediary with Iran over the nuclear issue.

Read the full article on Foreign Policy.

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