Russian President, Vladimir Putin has said Moscow’s offer to take in Iran’s enriched uranium remains on the table, and that he hopes the Strait of Hormuz will reopen to international shipping and sanctions on Iran will eventually be lifted. 

The remarks come as Washington adds a fresh round of sanctions on Tehran.

Speaking in Moscow on Thursday at the Valdai Forum, Putin said Russia’s earlier proposal to receive Iran’s enriched uranium, if it is removed from the country as part of a future peace deal with the United States, is still valid.

The Kremlin first made the offer public months into the war, which began in late February, when spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it had been put to both Washington and regional states but had not been acted upon.

The offer has so far gone nowhere in Washington, which has insisted that any transfer of the stockpile must go directly to the United States and not to a third country. Iran, for its part, has been moving toward some form of compromise.

President Masoud Pezeshkian has said Tehran is prepared to dilute its 60 per cent enriched uranium under verification. Sources familiar with Iran’s position told The National last week that a broader road map presented to the Americans in New York would also see the stockpile handed to a third party.

Under that plan, the Strait of Hormuz would reopen within seven days if certain conditions are met, followed by a resumption of negotiations. Tehran has also demanded that Washington carry out its obligations before the strait is reopened.

Putin’s comments landed on the same day the US Treasury Department announced new sanctions targeting a crypto-based shadow banking network with links to Russia, part of Washington’s widening campaign against Iran’s ability to move money outside the formal banking system.

The Treasury has repeatedly targeted Iranian crypto exchanges and wallets this year. Thursday’s action also followed separate sanctions on Iran’s car makers, rail companies and steel sector, as well as the deployment of another US carrier strike group and more than 2,000 Marines to the region.

The war has become a test of economic endurance. Iran has attacked oil shipping routes in the Gulf to push up global energy prices, while the US has blockaded Iranian ports since June.

Mediators are still trying to reach a deal that would end the fighting and reopen the strait.

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