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Vladimir Putin to Meet with Ayatollah Khamenei in Tehran

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is visiting Tehran for talks with the Iranian leadership expected to focus on the Syrian crisis.

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The presidential aide did not rule out that Putin could meet with Bolivian President Evo Morales, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and other leaders on the sidelines of the gas summit.

This will be the first time the Russian President has visited Iran since 2007, when Iran had a different President (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad), but the same dictator in Khamenei.

Russian Federation has launched the procedure of the delivery of the S-300 air defence missile systems to Iran, the Iranian news agency Tasnim reported on Monday, referring to statements made by the Iranian Ambassador to Russian Federation, Mehdi Sanai.

But divisions remain over what if any role Assad would play in the fight against IS, with Moscow and Tehran seeing his forces as central to defeating IS while the U.S. and its allies want him gone.

“Ahead of the visit to Moscow the French president will visit Washington. We see this as a continuation of attempts to form the widest possible anti-terror coalition”, Ushakov told journalists.

Putin will also partake in the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Tehran, which is scheduled for Monday.

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According to Ushakov, presidents of Bolivia and Venezuela have requested meetings with Putin and the Kremlin “is trying to find slots” in Russian president’s schedule for these meetings.

Vladimir Putin to Meet with Ayatollah Khamenei in Tehran