Putin to Host Iranian President Next Week for Talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with government members via a video link in Moscow, Russia January 12, 2022. Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via REUTERS
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with government members via a video link in Moscow, Russia January 12, 2022. Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via REUTERS
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Putin to Host Iranian President Next Week for Talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with government members via a video link in Moscow, Russia January 12, 2022. Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via REUTERS
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with government members via a video link in Moscow, Russia January 12, 2022. Sputnik/Alexei Nikolsky/Kremlin via REUTERS

President Vladimir Putin will host his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi for talks in Moscow next week as Russia tries to help salvage a nuclear deal between world powers and Tehran, state television channel Rossiya-1 reported on Sunday.

Rossiya-1 did not disclose when precisely the meeting between the two leaders would take place, nor the issues they would discuss.

Russia is taking part in talks to revive a 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain, Germany and the European Union - that lifted some sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear program.

Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the deal in 2018, a year after he became US president. Iran later breached many of the deal's nuclear restrictions and kept pushing beyond them.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that progress had been made in the talks to revive the deal.



B-2 Bombers Moving to Guam amid Middle East Tensions, US Officials Say

A US Air Force B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber (C) is flanked by four US Marine Corps F-35 fighters during a flyover of military aircraft down the Hudson River and New York Harbor past York City, and New Jersey, US, July 4, 2020. (Reuters)
A US Air Force B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber (C) is flanked by four US Marine Corps F-35 fighters during a flyover of military aircraft down the Hudson River and New York Harbor past York City, and New Jersey, US, July 4, 2020. (Reuters)
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B-2 Bombers Moving to Guam amid Middle East Tensions, US Officials Say

A US Air Force B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber (C) is flanked by four US Marine Corps F-35 fighters during a flyover of military aircraft down the Hudson River and New York Harbor past York City, and New Jersey, US, July 4, 2020. (Reuters)
A US Air Force B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber (C) is flanked by four US Marine Corps F-35 fighters during a flyover of military aircraft down the Hudson River and New York Harbor past York City, and New Jersey, US, July 4, 2020. (Reuters)

The United States is moving B-2 bombers to the Pacific island of Guam, two US officials told Reuters on Saturday, as President Donald Trump weighs whether the United States should take part in Israel's strikes against Iran.

It was unclear whether the bomber deployment is tied to Middle East tensions.

The B-2 can be equipped to carry America's 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, designed to destroy targets deep underground. That is the weapon that experts say could be used to strike Iran's nuclear program, including Fordow.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, declined to disclose any further details. One official said no forward orders had been given yet to move the bombers beyond Guam. They did not say how many B-2 bombers are being moved.

The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.