Russian President Vladimir Putin has returned to the forefront of diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the Iran war, as the stalemate in negotiations between Washington and Tehran continues.
The Kremlin announced that Putin conveyed to US President Donald Trump, during a phone call, Iran’s point of view regarding a possible settlement of the conflict, in coordination with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, without revealing the content of the proposals.
Russian Presidential Assistant, Yuri Ushakov, indicated that Trump welcomed the continuation of the indirect dialogue between Washington and Tehran, stressing that “diplomatic options have not been exhausted, and that reaching an agreement is possible and necessary.”
Pezeshkian stressed that his country is not withdrawing from the negotiations, but is adhering to its rights and rejects unilateral positions that hinder the settlement. In the nuclear file, Putin renewed Moscow’s offer to receive Iranian highly enriched uranium, and the Kremlin said that Trump has shown interest in the proposal.
Iran announced that it will keep dozens of combat and support units in advanced positions on its borders, in conjunction with reviewing its defense plans and strengthening its military fortifications. Iranian statements, along with repeated naval attacks, reflect Tehran's efforts to confirm its military readiness and ability to continue operations, at a time when the repercussions of the war are still casting a shadow over the region's security and global energy supplies.
In this regard, the Commander of the Iranian Army’s Ground Forces, Brigadier General Ali Jahanshahi, announced the continued deployment of more than 50 combat and support units on the country’s borders, confirming their readiness to confront threats, and revealing measures to deal with the possibility of hostile forces entering Iranian territory.
Jahanshahi said, in an interview with Fars Agency, which was republished by Iranian media on Saturday, that the deployment of these forces began with the outbreak of the last war, and that the units are still in their positions. The forces include mobile brigades, rapid intervention formations, armored and mechanized units, in addition to artillery, engineering, missiles and drones.
He explained that the spread extends from northwest and west to southwest Iran, in addition to the eastern and southeastern regions and the coasts of Makran. He added that the transport of individuals, ammunition and equipment was carried out using heavy vehicles, and that the movements were carried out at night under the threat of enemy aircraft and drones, considering that these measures contributed to deterring any attempt to breach the border.
Plan to confront the incursion
The Commander of the Ground Forces said that the army carried out reconnaissance operations in various regions of the country to identify locations that might be used by enemy forces to land or advance inside Iranian territory, including abandoned airports, and developed plans to allocate units to deal with such scenarios.
He added that the deployed forces are continuing their missions despite the difficult climatic conditions, including temperatures exceeding 50 degrees Celsius, high humidity, and a lack of some capabilities, stressing their continued readiness to carry out operations.
As part of the preparations, Jahanshahi referred to reviewing operational plans and modifying the organizational and combat structure of the units, in addition to providing them with accurate and smart weapons capable of operating within interconnected networks, and developing individual training programs. He also talked about creating trenches, tunnels, firing positions, and defensive fortifications inside the camps, with the aim of reducing human losses and limiting the exposure of military equipment to targeting.
Military production continues
Speaking about the performance of the ground forces during the war, Jahanshahi said that his units carried out missile attacks and launched thousands of “Arch” drones towards American bases in the region and Israel, according to his account.
He added that the production of military equipment continued during the war and is still ongoing, considering that the units' capabilities and readiness have become higher than they were before the outbreak of fighting.
He acknowledged that a number of camps were subjected to attacks that led to the destruction of large areas of their buildings, but he said that the distribution of forces and the establishment of fortifications contributed to reducing losses, without providing figures on the extent of the damage or the number of deaths.
These statements come in the context of the Iranian military establishment's efforts to highlight its ability to maintain its readiness and continue military production despite the strikes that its facilities and sites were subjected to during the war.
Calls for reconstruction
In a related context, the Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Ali Abdullah, revealed that centers affiliated with the police command were subjected to attacks during the war, which resulted in the death of a number of its members and caused damage to its headquarters and equipment.
On Saturday, Tasnim news agency quoted Abdullahi as saying that the United States and Israel were behind these attacks, without providing a specific death toll or the number of damaged facilities.
The military official called for accelerating the restoration of damaged sites and the rehabilitation of equipment, allowing police personnel to resume their duties in better conditions. He also praised the police leadership, governorate officials and specialized agencies, saying that they continued to manage security work despite the war conditions.
He added that, according to his account, cooperation between the armed forces, police, intelligence agencies, and residents contributed to maintaining internal security.
On the maritime front, the Revolutionary Guard announced on Friday that it had targeted the giant gas tanker NV Sunshine as it attempted to cross the Strait of Hormuz through what it described as an “illegal route.” The Revolutionary Guard said, in a statement carried by Iranian official media, that its naval forces are implementing the orders of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and responding to what it described as the desire of the Iranian people to exercise sovereignty over the Strait.
Ships obtain permission
Tehran insists that ships must obtain its permission to use the route it prefers to cross the strategic waterway. But some ships are taking the risk of using an alternative route along the southern coast of the strait, near the Omani coast.
The Iranian announcement comes at a time when fears continue about the expansion of maritime risks, amid the disruption of navigation traffic and the emergence of alternative routes that ships are trying to use to avoid restrictions and threats.
In a separate incident, the British Maritime Trade Operations Authority reported that a ship had been hit by a projectile of unknown origin, causing a fire to break out on board, about 13 nautical miles, or approximately 24 kilometers, off the Red Island in the Emirates, to the southwest of the Strait of Hormuz.
The incident came days after a tanker was targeted off the coast of Qatar, approximately 500 kilometers west of the strait, in an indication of the widening scope of risks facing ships operating in the waters of the Gulf and its surrounding areas.
Ships in the Gulf or trying to cross the Strait of Hormuz have been subjected to repeated attacks since the outbreak of war with American and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, while Tehran continues to disrupt navigation in the Strait, despite the success of some ships in crossing.
In return, the United States imposed a blockade on Iranian ports, and its forces repeatedly fired on ships linked to Tehran. American media also reported that there are military efforts to protect ships using the southern route of the Strait.
The Kremlin announced on Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin conveyed to his American counterpart Donald Trump Iran's position on a possible agreement to end the war in the Middle East. The Kremlin explained that Putin informed Trump of Tehran's position during their phone call on Friday, but he did not reveal the content of the proposed vision or the US President's response to it, nor did it include an announcement of an agreement to end the war.
Russian Presidential Assistant Yuri Ushakov said that Putin stressed that diplomatic options in the Iranian file have not been exhausted, and that reaching an agreement with Tehran through negotiations is “possible and necessary.” Ushakov added that the US President welcomed the continuation of the indirect dialogue between Washington and Tehran with the participation of Qatar, despite the sharp public statements between the two parties.
Putin met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the CIS summit in Turkmenistan this week, where the Russian president expressed his readiness to mediate with the aim of concluding a settlement that would end the war that broke out with a US-Israeli attack on Iran last February. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said yesterday, according to what was reported by the official Russian RIA Novosti agency, that “in coordination with the Iranian president, Putin conveyed to Trump the views of the Iranian side regarding a possible settlement of the conflict.”
For his part, Pezeshkian stressed that his country is not withdrawing from the negotiating table and seeks to end the war quickly, but he stressed the need to respect its rights, warning that unilateral positions hinder reaching a solution soon.
Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict with Iran, which has been ongoing for more than 7 months and which broke out following US-Israeli strikes on Iran last February, have witnessed a stagnation since the summer.
“Very substantive and friendly” conversation
Last June, the United States and Iran concluded a memorandum of understanding to end the conflict, before it collapsed last July due to renewed Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, and Washington responded to them through offensive strikes. The recent indirect talks between Washington and Tehran, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings, did not result in any breakthrough.
The Russian Interfax news agency quoted a Kremlin official as saying that the conversation that took place between Putin and Trump was “very substantive and friendly,” and that neither leader wanted to be the first to end the call.
During the call, the two presidents agreed that Russia would supply diesel to the American and global markets to reduce fuel prices. This led to an unexpected temporary easing of US sanctions on Russian fuel, which dismayed Ukraine.
Interfax quoted Kremlin Foreign Affairs Advisor Yuri Ushakov as saying that the conversation lasted an hour and a half. “Neither of them wanted to be the first to hang up,” he said. "They ended the call simultaneously... literally at the same moment."
Russian offer on uranium
Regarding the nuclear file, Ushakov said that Putin assured Trump that Moscow’s offer to receive Iranian highly enriched uranium still stands, as a possible way out of the impasse.
He added that the US President expressed interest in this point and welcomed Russia's involvement in efforts to resolve the situation around Iran, according to the Russian narrative. It was not announced in the statements that the two parties agreed to implement the proposal, or to specify its mechanisms and dates.
Peskov's statements add detail to the ongoing contacts, by confirming coordination with the Iranian president before conveying Tehran's vision to Washington. But the content of this vision, and the extent of its compatibility with American demands, remain undeclared in the available statements, while Moscow insists on the possibility of reaching a negotiated solution.
Washington swayed
Washington is oscillating between the temptation to launch a lightning military strike against Iran and the gains of negotiating with it, at a time when the chances of a settlement still depend on Iranian concessions in the nuclear file, according to the request of US President Donald Trump after he rejected Tehran’s plan to limit negotiations to the Hormuz issue and open the Strait within 7 days.
While the US Army is studying options to launch an intensive military campaign that will last 3 days, according to US officials quoted by the New York Times, a trend within the administration is betting on economic pressure and giving it more time to force Tehran to make tangible concessions.
Trump's withdrawal from launching an imminent attack raised questions about whether his decision was related to the rise in oil prices, or to the conviction that Tehran wants to return seriously to negotiations.
Production of missiles and drones
On the other hand, the American Bloomberg network revealed that Iran was able to maintain missile and drone production factories, despite months of American and Israeli bombing, allowing it to rebuild its military arsenal and compensate for part of its losses.
This comes as US President Donald Trump pledged on Thursday not to attack Iran before the midterm congressional elections scheduled for next November, according to a post on social media.
The network quoted Western officials, who requested to remain anonymous due to their talk about unannounced assessments, saying that Tehran still has the ability to manufacture new weapons to compensate for what it has lost from its arsenal. One of the officials explained that Iran maintains a large stock of ballistic missiles and some anti-ship weapons, indicating its ability to quickly increase this stock. He added that Russia is also supplying Iran with missiles, in line with a separate assessment dating back to last June.
Contradictory to Trump's statements
These estimates contradict repeated statements by Trump and officials in his administration, in which they confirmed that eight months of air strikes caused severe damage to Iran’s military capabilities and destroyed its ability to threaten American bases in the region and Washington’s allies.
Earlier this year, Trump announced that the Iranian army had been “completely destroyed.” US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth also said, in a speech he delivered on September 30, that the United States had destroyed Iran's "military industrial capacity" and "its entire defense base."
In a related context, the spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Defense, Brigadier General Reza Talaei, announced that his country’s ability to produce weapons had risen to two and a half times its level compared to what it was before the war, attributing this to taking advantage of the full capabilities available in the Iranian defense industries, according to what was reported by Tasnim Agency last Tuesday.
