Putin to convey Arab concerns to Iran about attacks on oil infrastructure — Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin will convey to Iran concerns among Arab leaders about Tehran’s strikes on oil infrastructure in the region, the Kremlin says, as the Iran conflict continues to widen.

Putin held a flurry of phone calls yesterday with four Arab Gulf state leaders, offering to use Moscow’s ties to Tehran — with which it has a strategic partnership — to try and defuse tensions in the region.

“Putin will certainly make every effort to contribute to at least a slight easing of tensions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov tells reporters.

“Yesterday’s discussions with virtually all of his interlocutors focused on Putin conveying his deep concern about the strikes on their infrastructure to our colleagues in Iran, taking advantage of the dialogue we maintain with the Iranian leadership.”

Oil prices have risen for a third day as Iran responded to US and Israeli attacks with strikes against energy infrastructure in Gulf countries and against tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

Putin has not spoken with US President Donald Trump since the US and Israel launched the campaign against Iran, and Peskov says there are no plans for such a conversation at this time.