Trump’s remarks represent a shift for the president, who in 2018 withdrew the United States from a nuclear deal with Iran.

The reduction in funding for Iranian groups, based largely outside Iran, is affecting the work of human rights monitors, news outlets and civic activists.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that future talks between Russia and the United States would include discussions on Iran's nuclear programme, a subject it said had been "touched upon" in an initial round of U.