Special Report: Iran Nuclear Crisis

    MOSCOW, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and his United States counterpart George W. Bush Tuesday discussed the Iran nuclear issue in a telephone conversation, a Kremlin official said.

    The 40-minute conversation focused on "the Iranian nuclear program and the situations in the Middle and Near East," Itar-Tass and Interfax news agencies quoted senior Kremlin aide Sergei Prikhodko as saying.

    On the same day, Putin told visiting Iranian Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili that Russia welcomes broader cooperation between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency and expects all the nuclear programs to be open, transparent and controllable by the agency.