Tasnim – Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed media reports claiming that Moscow and Washington had recently discussed Iran through a "back channel line of communication".

“That’s sheer nonsense,” Peskov said on Tuesday, referring to a recent report by the Washington Post, according to the Tass news agency.

The Washington Post reported recently that “the United Arab Emirates arranged a secret meeting in January between Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a Russian close to President Putin as part of an apparent effort to establish a back-channel line of communication between Moscow and President-elect Donald Trump.”

“The meeting took place around January 11, nine days before Trump’s inauguration, in the Seychelles islands in the Indian Ocean,” the daily cited sources and officials in the US government.

“Though the full agenda remains unclear, the UAE agreed to broker the meeting in part to explore whether Russia could be persuaded to curtail its relationship with Iran, including in Syria, a Trump administration objective that would be likely to require major concessions to Moscow on US sanctions.”

In the meantime, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied the rumor, saying that the meeting had “nothing to do with” Trump.