Putin as mediator between Iran and Arab leaders

(Patria) - Russian President Vladimir Putin will convey the concerns of Arab leaders to Iran regarding Tehran's attacks on oil infrastructure in the region, the Kremlin said today, as the conflict in Iran and continues to spread.

The Russian president held a series of phone calls on Monday with four leaders of Arab Gulf states, offering to leverage Moscow's ties with Tehran – with which it has a strategic partnership – to try to calm tensions in the region.

"Putin will certainly make every effort to contribute to at least a small de-escalation of tensions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters today.

"Yesterday's talks with almost all interlocutors focused on President Putin conveying to his colleagues in Iran the deep concern over attacks on their infrastructure, using the dialogue we maintain with the Iranian leadership," he added.

Oil prices rose for the third consecutive day on Tuesday, as Iran responded to American and Israeli attacks with attacks on energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf countries and on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.

Putin expressed his condolences to the family of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a note sent to President Masoud Pezeshkian over the weekend, but the Kremlin has not released information about any further contacts with the high-ranking Iranian leadership since the attacks began on Saturday.

The Russian president has not spoken with US President Donald Trump either, and Peskov said there are currently no plans for such a conversation.