Russian President Vladimir Putin has formally eased an export ban on nuclear equipment and technology to Iran.
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Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Tehran on Monday and, judging from a statement released by Khamenei’s office, the discussion was dominated by criticism of “the Americans”.
Following their talks, Putin and Rouhani witnessed the signing of a number of agreements between their countries in a range of industries, including health, travel, finance, railways, thermal power, desalination and groundwater.
“Thirty-five priority projects were picked up in the spheres of energy, construction of sea terminals, and electrification of railroads”, Putin said. “We intend to boost the momentum of our commercial relations”, Putin said after he concluded bilateral talks with the Iranian leadership. Positional warfare is in progress at the moment, and neither party to the conflict has achieved a decisive breakthrough. However its campaign appears to have hit rebel positions allowing Syria’s army to regain ground.
“No one has the right to impose their opinion on the people of Syria and to make decisions for them about the structure of the government and about the fate of the President of that country”. “At a certain stage the question will arise whether the Islamic Revolutionary Guards will agree to support a secular regime in Syria”, Akhmetov said.
Iran and Russian Federation have become increasingly allied in Syria providing support that has propped up Assad s government and forces since an uprising erupted in 2011. “It is important to breathe a new life into Syria’s political institutions and to create civilian bodies of power”. He reiterated: “We, too, stress that resolving the issue of Syria is only possible through politics and by accepting the votes of the people of that country and the wishes of all Syrian ethnicities and groups”.
Russian Federation and Iran had signed an $800 million contract for the defense system in 2007, but Russian Federation suspended the contract in 2010, citing worldwide sanctions that had been slapped on Iran.
The foreign ministers of Iran and Russian Federation signed one agreement aimed to facilitate mutual travel conditions for citizens of the two countries.
While most recent focus has remained on instances of collaboration between Iran and Russian Federation, this does not mean that China is out of the picture.
The situation changed only in mid-July this year, when the global community in the form of the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council members plus Germany) and worldwide mediators agreed on a mechanism to lift unilateral and global sanctions from Iran on the basis of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPA). But at the same time Tehran maintains constructive relations with many countries that have secular authorities.
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But Mr. Milani said the ayatollah’s power isn’t absolute and mistrust between Russian Federation and Iran goes back decades, with many Iranians feeling Moscow has taken an opportunistic approach.
