Vladimir Putin has arrived in Iran to establish a dreadful new alliance between the two sanction-hit nations, who share a vile loathing of the West.
During the negotiations intended to strengthen ties between the regimes, the Russian president will have meetings with President Raisi and Ayatollah Khamenei of the Islamic Republic.
Putin has only traveled outside of Russia twice since beginning his bloody invasion of Ukraine five months ago.
The meeting takes place after last week’s US warnings that Iran is getting ready to sell drones to Russia for use in Ukraine.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said Tehran is planning to provide ‘hundreds’ of combat drones to Moscow, and Iranian soldiers will train their Russian counterparts in how to use the drones – with lessons beginning in just a few weeks.
On June 8 and July 5, a Russian group traveled to Iran to study drones that may be used to target artillery fire and damage Ukrainian military equipment, according to the White House.
There have been rumors that Russia will provide vague military support in exchange for the drones.
The event has symbolic significance for Putin at home, demonstrating Russia’s global influence as it becomes more and more isolated and escalates its conflict with the West.
Yevgeny Popov, a propagandist for Russian state television, mocked George W. Bush’s characterization of Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as a “axis of evil” by declaring that the two countries will form a “axis of virtue.”
Andrey Kortunov, head of the Russian International Affairs Council, said: ‘This is an important visit for Putin personally.
‘The Kremlin doesn’t want to allow itself to be isolated internationally.’
It happens just a few days after US Vice President Joe Biden traveled to Israel and Saudi Arabia, Iran’s main regional adversaries.
Since US President Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear agreement and re-imposed crippling sanctions, Iran has progressed its nuclear program quickly, and Russia has regularly threatened to use nuclear weapons against the West.
Iran is stepping up uranium enrichment, tightening down on dissent, and capturing headlines with upbeat, hard-line statements designed to prevent the Iranian currency from collapsing because it is being forced into a corner by the West and its regional competitors.
Without sanctions relief in sight, Iran’s tactical partnership with Russia has become one of survival, even as Moscow appears to be undercutting Tehran in the black market oil trade.
‘Iran is (the) centre of dynamic diplomacy,’ Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian wrote on Twitter, adding the meetings will ‘develop economic cooperation, focus on security of the region via political solution … and ensure food security.’
On Monday, Fadahossein Maleki, a prominent member of the important national security and foreign policy committee of the Iranian parliament, referred to Russia as Iran’s “most strategic partner.”
His remarks belied decades of hostility brought on by Russia’s conquest of Iran during World War II and its subsequent refusal to withdraw.
In a briefing on Monday, Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy advisor, referred to Iran as “an essential partner for Russia,” noting that both nations “have a desire to push their relations to a new level of strategic partnership.”
Putin will meet with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during his fifth trip to Tehran, according to Ushakov, with whom he maintains a “trusting dialogue.”
He will also speak with President Raisi about matters such as the Iran nuclear agreement, which Russia is a major signatory to. The leaders met twice, once in Turkmenistan last month and once in Moscow in January.
The three presidents’ discussions will center on the ongoing conflict in Syria, which has lasted for ten years and in which Turkey has supported armed opposition groups while Iran and Russia have supported President Bashar Assad’s regime.
In 2015, Russia entered the battle, joining forces with Iranian and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and utilizing its air power to support Assad’s inexperienced troops and ultimately tip the balance in his favor.
Ushakov stated that measures to promote a political settlement will be discussed, and Erdogan is anticipated to reiterate Turkey’s threats of launching a fresh military attack in northern Syria to force Syrian Kurdish militants away from its borders.
The action is a component of Turkey’s intentions to establish a safe zone along its border with Syria in order to promote the voluntary repatriation of Syrian refugees.
Ushakov emphasized that Russia is adamantly opposed to the anticipated Turkish incursion. Since Russia last week used its veto power at the U.N. Security Council to place a restriction on aid delivery to 4.1 million people in Syria’s rebel-held northwest after six months rather than a year, humanitarian difficulties in Syria have also come into spotlight.
On the agenda will be discussions on removing a Russian blockade and getting Ukrainian grain onto international markets.
Last week, representatives from the U.N., Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey tentatively agreed on certain terms of a deal to guarantee the export of 22 million tons of grain and other agricultural supplies that have been detained in Ukraine’s Black Sea ports by the fighting.
Today, Putin will also have a meeting with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, who has been trying to mediate talks on a peaceful resolution of the crisis between Russia and Ukraine as well as discussions to open the Black Sea to Ukrainian grain.
NATO member Turkey has found itself in violent confrontations with Russia in Azerbaijan, Libya, and Syria.
Turkey, on the other hand, has not placed sanctions on the Kremlin, making it a crucial ally for Moscow. Turkey relies on the Russian market in addition to dealing with out-of-control inflation and a quickly appreciating currency.