Sri Lanka, March 23 -- Russia on Monday (Mar 23) called for a "political and diplomatic" settlement to the Middle East war just as US President Donald Trump claimed that Washington and Tehran had held talks on ending the conflict.

Trump said Monday the two sides had, over the last two days, held "very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities".

Trump also said he had ordered a halt to threatened strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure, after earlier issuing an ultimatum for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The waterway has remained effectively closed since the start of the war sparked on Feb 28 by US-Israeli bombardment of Iran.

In a call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Ara...