Russian Federation and Iran, political allies, are both supportive of Assad’s regime and pledged Monday that they will oppose any foreign nation that attempts to “force any form of government upon the Syrian people from the outside, or decide who should rule them”.
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Moscow is hoping to cement its strengthening relationship with Tehran by clinching industrial export deals of more than $21bn, as it prepares to send one of its biggest trade delegations to Iran next month.
Putin congratulated Gas Exporting Countries Forum leaders on “successfully holding this major worldwide event” and added that Russian Federation intends to increase the volume of its gas production by 40% by 2035.
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. Jordanian sources say that the talks between King Abdullah II and President Putin will discuss the worldwide effort to combat terrorism in addition to the latest developments in the region, especially with regards to Syria.
Russian Federation and Iran have been the main worldwide backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since an uprising broke out against his rule in 2011, swiftly escalating into a civil war. Syria’s president was elected by people of various political, religious and ethnic views in a general election. Following the November 13 killings in Paris, France has proposed working with Russia’s militarily to destroy the Islamic State in Syria. Khamenei commended Russia’s work on the Iran nuclear accord, and vowed not to negotiate with the USA again.
At the same time, it could mean a closer economic and strategic relationship between the two countries, which have a number of shared interests throughout the Middle East.
Ali Akbar Velayati, top adviser of the supreme leader, called Putin’s twohour meeting with Khamenei “unprecedented in the history of both countries”, according to the Fars news agency.
Russian Federation has been conducting intense air and missile strikes against Syrian rebels including so-called Islamic State (IS), while Iran has been helping Mr Assad’s forces on the ground.
The U.S. State Department pushed back against the remarks, saying its only intentions in Syria are to help find a peaceful solution to the conflict there.
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Russia, which has built Iran’s only functioning nuclear reactor in the southern city of Bushehr, signed an agreement with Iran previous year to erect as many as eight more.
