Russian Federation and Iran have also been participating in talks with the United States, Arab and European countries seeking to end the four-year Syrian civil war, which has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced about half the nation’s pre-war population of 22 million people, sending millions to neighboring Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan and hundreds of thousands to Europe.
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Photos of the meeting between the pair were posted on Khamenei’s official website on Monday afternoon.
The decision follows a landmark deal between six world powers and Tehran in July, under which Iran agreed long-term curbs on a nuclear programme that the West has suspected was aimed at creating a nuclear bomb. In late September, as Russia said it would enter the fight against the Islamic State in Syria, Russia significantly increased its military support to President Bashar al-Assad, helping the beleaguered Syrian army with Russian air power.
These new commitments build on previous Russian pledges to provide Iran with advanced missile-defense systems, which Tehran has sought to defend its nuclear infrastructure against possible attack.
“I invite the leaders of the countries in this group to partner with Iran and invest in developing Iran’s gas resources for mutual benefit”, he said.
Putin last visited Iran in 2007.
However, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided in April to lift the ban on the S-300 missile system delivery to Iran.
This shared goal has 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.
Seeking to build new partnership after a deacde, Putin met for more than 90 minutes on Monday with Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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”.
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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He said the country was taking the steps because natural gas was fast evolving as the fuel of choice for sustainable development in view of its impressive suitability for environmental protection and lower cost of supply in comparison with fossil fuels.
