Both Putin and Khamenei are strong allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Advertisement
Putin made his first visit in 8 years to Tehran yesterday and he was immediately taken to the residence of Ayatollah Ali in Tehran upon his arrival where he presented the Ayatollah with one of the oldest hand written copies of the Holy Qur’an.
“The conversation was of a very constructive nature”, Peskov said.
Those who claim for democracy can not ignore the vote of the Syrian people, he said, emphasizing the continuation of Russia’s air strikes against the terrorists in the country.
Khamenei said the U.S. had a “long-term plan” to dominate Syria and the Middle East that would “disadvantage all countries, especially Iran and Russia”.
“This threat should be neutralized wisely and with closer interaction…” A Kremlin spokesperson said Iran and Russian Federation have a “unity of views” on Syria. “But there is a big question mark over whether the Syrian and Iranian armies will agree with the need for such political reform”, Akhmetov said. “Only the Syrian people will decide that”.
Putin congratulated Gas Exporting Countries Forum leaders on “successfully holding this major global event” and added that Russian Federation intends to increase the volume of its gas production by 40% by 2035.
What began as a conflict between Assad’s forces and Western- and Gulf-backed rebels has since spiralled into a civil war and multi-faceted fighting that has killed more than 250,000 people.
Attention is now focused on stopping Islamic State group jihadists, who previous year seized large parts of Syria before surging into Iraq. “Unlike some others, we have pledged to never stab our partners in the back and act against our friends behind the scenes and to reach an agreement – through negotiations – if we have differences of opinion with them”. “The Iranians emphasize the pivotal role Russian Federation played in the lifting of sanctions, so if we’re active we’ll open a new market for ourselves”.
On the economy, Russian Federation and Iran are also looking at bigger deals once sanctions are lifted under the July 14 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, including Moscow.
However, the most extraordinary thing about Putin’s visit to Tehran is that it takes the veil off a strategic decision taken by the Kremlin to elevate Russia-Iran relationship to a qualitatively new level.
Putin ordered Russia’s first military campaign outside the former Soviet Union in decades to bolster Assad’s regime.
Moscow has announced opening a $5 billion credit line for Iran and help for Tehran’s struggling banking sector is also expected.
Russian Federation and Iran signed a contract for Moscow to supply Tehran with S-300 surface-to-air missile systems on November 9.
Advertisement
The Russian decree outlines three areas where the country can resume its support for Iran’s civilian nuclear industry: modifying two cascades at the Fordow uranium enrichment plant, supporting Iran’s export of surplus enriched uranium – above the 300 kilogram limit – in exchange for Russian raw uranium supplies, and upgrading the Arak heavy water reactor.
