Russia’s Foreign Ministry stated today that a story run by the news outlet [Axios](https://www.axios.com/2025/07/12/putin-iran-nuclear-deal-uranium-enrichment)—“Scoop: Putin Urges Iran To Take “Zero Enrichment” Nuclear Deal with U.S., Sources Say”—was “a dirty ploy to stoke tensions in the region.” It slammed Western outlets as a “tool” in the hands of the political establishment and “deep state,” which it said does not hesitate to resort to any means, including provocative acts and “fake news.”
Axios, citing five unnamed sources, ran a story yesterday, claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin had told both President Trump and Iranian officials that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium. Behind the scenes, Moscow has supposedly encouraged the Iranians to agree to “zero enrichment,” according to three European officials and one Israeli official with knowledge of the issue.
It went on to claim that two sources told Axios that the Russians also briefed the Israeli government about Putin’s position regarding Iran’s uranium enrichment. “We know that this is what Putin told the Iranians,” a senior Israeli official said. Putin also supposedly expressed that position in calls last week with Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron. “Putin would support zero enrichment. He encouraged the Iranians to work towards that in order to make negotiations with the Americans more favorable. The Iranians said they won’t consider it,” one European official with direct knowledge of the issue said.
The Foreign Ministry characterized Axios as a “toilet tank” that consistently spreads targeted disinformation. The Axios story was “apparently yet another dirty, politicized campaign launched with the aim of escalating tensions around Iran’s nuclear program.” It also reiterated that Moscow’s position remains that the crisis around Iran’s nuclear program should be resolved “exclusively by political and diplomatic means.”
The Iranians, unofficially at least, have denied the Axios report. An “informed source” told Tasnim that Iran has not received any message from Putin regarding a zero enrichment nuclear deal with the U.S. The source emphasized that no such issue has been mooted during the Russian President’s most recent meeting with an Iranian official, namely Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. No message regarding zero enrichment has been exchanged via the contact channels between Russia and Iran after that meeting either, the source said.
What the Russians have proposed is that they would be ready to remove Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, if that would facilitate a resolution to the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program.
“We have conveyed this proposal to both the Iranian side and the American side, and the IAEA is also aware of it, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told Sputnik yesterday. Its purpose is to solve two problems at once—one is related to the fact that the Iranian side, as we understand it, is firmly insisting on the importance of preserving the right to carry out enrichment work on its territory. On the other hand, we see that there are opponents of Tehran who are expressing great concern about the accumulation on its territory of uranium enriched above the levels that are usually used in the manufacture of fuel for nuclear reactors.”
If Russia could take this material out of Iran and carry out appropriate work with it in order to produce fuel from it or manage it in such a way that it becomes a commercial product subject to sale, then both of these tasks could be effectively solved, he said. “Considering that it is still unclear how the dialogue will proceed, whether it will proceed at all, and if it does, in what format, we have not yet reached the specifics of such practical measures. But all interested parties approached this with attention and, perhaps, one can say, perceived this as a reflection of the seriousness of our efforts, the seriousness of our intentions in this regard,” Ryabkov said.
