Putin, Saudi prince seek more efforts to end Iran war

MOSCOW, Apr 02 (AFP): Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called for intensifying political and diplomatic efforts to end the Middle East war during a phone call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Facing isolation from the West after sending troops to Ukraine, Putin has sought to strengthen partnerships in the Middle East, maintaining close relations both with Iran and the Gulf monarchies.

"Both sides emphasised the need for a rapid cessation of hostilities and the intensification of political and diplomatic efforts to achieve a long-term settlement of the conflict," the Kremlin said in a read-out of the call.

The call comes after Ukraine -- fending off Russia's full-scale assault since 2022 -- signed an air defence deal with Saudi Arabia as the Gulf nation grapples with Iranian drone attacks.

Kyiv has sought to leverage its expertise in downing Russian drones to help Gulf nations which are being attacked with the same Iranian-designed Shahed drones that Russia fires on Ukraine.

Ukraine has proposed swapping its relatively cheap drone interceptors for the expensive air-defence missiles that the Gulf is using to down Iranian drones.

Putin and Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler also discussed "problems with energy production and transportation resulting from the crisis are negatively impacting global energy security."

They stressed "the importance of joint work underway with Russia and Saudi Arabia in the "OPEC+" format to stabilise the global oil market."

OPEC+ is made up of the 12 main OPEC members plus 10 other top crude oil producers who cooperate to regulate production and pricing.

Oil prices extended gains on Thursday in the wake of US President Donald Trump threatening further heavy strikes on Iran, dampening hopes of de-escalation.

The US embassy in Baghdad warned Thursday that pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq may attack the city in the coming one or two days.

Iraq has been dragged into the war between the United States, Israel and Iran, with strikes targeting both US interests and pro-Iran groups in the country.

The US embassy in Baghdad, located in the centre of the city, has been repeatedly targeted, and on Thursday it warned of more attacks in central parts of the capital.

"Iraqi terrorist militia groups aligned with Iran may intend to conduct attacks in central Baghdad in the next 24-48 hours," the embassy said in a statement on X.

It repeated earlier advice for Americans in Iraq to leave.

The frequency of attacks in Iraq has decreased in recent days after the influential pro-Iran group Kateab Hezbollah declared a pause on March 19, which was twice extended. But the group did not announce a further extension on Wednesday night after its latest pause expired.

Last month Washington and Baghdad said they would "intensify cooperation" to prevent attacks and ensure Iraqi territory is not used to launch assaults against US facilities.

The Philippines said Thursday that Iran has pledged to allow safe passage for shipments of oil to the import-dependent archipelago through the Strait of Hormuz.

President Ferdinand Marcos last week declared a state of national energy emergency, saying "nothing was off the table" as the country of 116 million tries to navigate a global fuel crisis driven by the Middle East war.