Putin’s three-day visit to Tehran was scheduled around a summit on gas exports.
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In this Monday, Nov. 23, 2015 photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, listens to Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Tehran, Iran.
That intervention assumed new importance after a wave of terrorist attacks against the West and Russia claimed by the Islamic State militant group, including the November 13 massacre in Paris and the bombing of a Russian passenger jet over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
“Soleimani promised them to return the Russian pilot safe and sound; a promise that was kept in the end, according to the Syrian officer”, the report says.
The Russian delegation travelling to Tehran included not only high level politicians such as Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, but also energy industry representatives including Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller and Rosneft head Igor Sechin.
Senior research fellow Vladimir Akhmetov, of the Oriental Studies Institute under the Russian Academy of Sciences, believes that coordination of efforts in the struggle with the Islamic State was the focal point of Putin’s talks with the Iranian leadership.
On Monday Putin relaxed an export ban on nuclear equipment and technology to Iran. Khamenei commended Russia’s work on the Iran nuclear accord, and vowed not to negotiate with the USA again. Syria’s president was elected by people of various political, religious and ethnic views in a general election. The Russian leader’s visit is meant to help his country capitalize on the new freedom to operate in Iran after the July nuclear accord that paved the way for a lifting of sanctions.
The leaders of Russian Federation and Iran underscored their growing alliance in the Middle East by declaring their opposition to external attempts to impose a solution to the civil war in Syria, where both have deployed military power.
Their shared goals have seen Iran send commanders from its elite Revolutionary Guards to support and advise Assad’s forces, with Tehran coordinating a collection of Shiite militias on the ground.
Moscow’s aim of an global coalition made up of Iran, Jordan and other regional and Western countries against IS is coming up against a deadlock over Assad’s future, which recent peace talks in Vienna failed to break.
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Russia’s Vnesheconombank, Russia’s Export Insurance Agency EXIAR and Iran’s Central Bank signed a memorandum of understanding to promote investment activities, guarantee support, export financing and trade ties.
