This is Putin’s first visit to Iran since 2007 and it also reflects how the nuclear deal reached in July with the Obama administration has untied Russia’s hands to develop its relations with Tehran more publicly.
Advertisement
Backed by Russian air strikes, hundreds of Iranian troops have arrived since late September to take part in a major ground offensive planned in western and northwestern Syria, their biggest deployment in the country to date. On his first trip to Iran in eight years, Putin, accompanied by his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, went straight into a meeting with Khamenei, the Islamic republic’s ultimate authority.
“The United States is now trying to achieve its failed military objectives in Syria by political means”, Khamenei said with regards to the peace talks to end the civil war in Syria. “This should be decided only by the Syrian people”.
His talks with Iranian leaders are likely to focus on the war in Syria, where Russian Federation and Iran are the main military backers of President Bashar al-Assad.
Describing the meeting as “quite constructive”, the spokesman says Iran and Russian Federation are against “external attempts to dictate scenarios of political settlement in Syria” and any change in leadership should come through elections.
He also noted the importance of Russia’s interaction with Iran over the Syrian issue and expressed hope that it will continue in this way.
To clarify the timeline, the State Department said last week that the clock starts once Assad’s representatives and opposition figures begin talks on a constitution.
Tehran and Moscow are the regional allies of the Assad government in Syria’s long-lasting conflict.
Advertisement
Shiite powerhouse Iran has staunchly backed Assad, who belongs to Syria’s Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, seeing him as a bulwark against its archrival, Saudi Arabia, and other Sunni monarchies of the Gulf. “Whereas a few countries are only indulging in anti-terrorist oratory and taking demonstrative actions, our two countries have proved that this issue can be addressed seriously”.
