Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the Iranian President on Friday. Their meeting comes at a time when Tehran is supplying weapons to Moscow’s war in Ukraine and growing concern over the escalation of attacks between Israel and Iran and its allies.
Russian state media reported that Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezheshkian discussed the Middle East situation on the sidelines of an international forum in Ashbagh, the capital of Turkmenistan.
Moscow and Tehran signed a $1.7 billion deal to export drones to Russia after Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022, and the United States also believes Iran has supplied short-range ballistic missiles.
This week, Ken McCallum, the head of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency MI5, accused both countries of an ‘astonishing’ assassination attempt and acts of sabotage and other crimes on UK soil. McCallum said his intelligence had foiled 20 Iran-backed ‘potentially lethal’ plots since 2022 and warned they could expand their targets to Britain if the conflict in the Middle East escalates.
Russia’s state-run news agency Tass reported that during the meeting between the two presidents, Putin told Pezeshkian that Moscow and Tehran are very close in international affairs. Putin also invited the Iranian leader to visit Russia, which Pezheshekian accepted, according to TASS.
“Now we have many opportunities and we should help each other in this regard,” Pezekian said at the start of his meeting with Putin. Our policy in the international field, our position is the same as yours.
Pezeshkian said Israel’s “brutal attacks are beyond description”. The Israeli military has sent ground forces into southern Lebanon and is continuing airstrikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters in the country.
Putin said at the opening of the forum on Friday that he wanted to create a “new world order” with Moscow’s allies to counter the West, according to a video released by the Kremlin.
The conference is attended by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and regional leaders including Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
