Russian Foreign Ministry dismisses report that Putin urged Iran to make deal with U.S.

An Axios report that Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly called on Iran to agree to a zero enrichment nuclear deal with the United States is "a politicized smear campaign’, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"One can only guess who ordered the publication but one of the latest reports titled, ‘Scoop: Putin urges Iran to take zero enrichment nuclear deal with U.S.’, is apparently yet another politicized smear campaign meant to escalate tensions around the Iranian nuclear program," the ministry said.

According to it, Moscow has repeatedly emphasized the need to resolve the crisis around Iran’s nuclear program exclusively through political and diplomatic means and expressed readiness to contribute to finding mutually-acceptable solutions.

"We call on responsible global media outlets to cite official sources of information, explore topics, and refrain from publishing fake news," the statement reads.