Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to travel to Tehran on Monday, where he will meet with Iranian dictator Ali Khamenei, who is known as the ‘Supreme Leader’ of the country.
Russia and the Islamic Republic of Iran have joined forces in the Middle East to support the regime of Syrian despot Bashar al-Assad, who has gassed and barrel bombed his own civilians, accounting for the vast majority of deaths during the country’s ongoing civil war, which started in 2011.
“President Putin’s visit to Tehran will take place at the invitation of his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani,” Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Mehdi Sanayee told Iran’s state-controlled Fars News Agency on Friday.
More accurately, Rouhani is only the counterpart of Putin with respect to his title, as the Iranian President wields little authority in the affairs of his regime.
Sanayee announced that Putin is scheduled to meet with ‘Supreme Leader’ Khamenei, Rouhani, and other senior Iranian officials to discuss measures that would boost ties between the two states.
The Kremlin has also confirmed Putin’s Monday visit to Tehran. The two sides will discuss “issues in bilateral relations, including atomic energy, oil and gas and military-technical cooperation,” Putin aide Yury Ushakov said Friday.
“Considerable attention will be paid to the pressing international issues: the settlement of the Syrian conflict, the implementation of the joint comprehensive action plan on the Iranian nuclear program, the fight against terrorism, in particular, confronting the Islamic State terrorist group [banned in Russia],” Russia’s state-media reported.
This will be the first time the Russian President has visited Iran since 2007, when Iran had a different President (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad), but the same dictator in Khamenei.
Russia has pledged to supply Iran with advanced S-300 air defense missile systems by the end of the year, despite strong objections from the west. The missile systems could prevent against air strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, experts have warned.
Putin will also partake in the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in Tehran, which is scheduled for Monday.
The GECF is made up of the following countries: Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Libya, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Peru, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Venezuela.
Following his visit to Tehran, Putin will host Jordanian King Abdullah II on Tuesday, and French President Francois Hollande on Thursday.
On November 30, the Russian leader will fly to Paris to attend a United Nations summit on climate change.
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