In Iran for gas meet, Putin praises ties with Tehran

Putin and Khamenei met before the Russian leader spoke at a major summit of gas exporting countries hosted by Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani in the capital.

But as before, the parties continued to disagree on the future of Assad as that process unfolds, and at his meeting with Putin, Khamenei slammed the USA and its allies for wanting Assad to go.

He also said no country should impose its will on the political structure of the country.

Russia’s Tekhnopromexport and Iran’s holding company for electricity production at thermal station signed an agreement for the construction of a heat electricity plant with four energy units with a capacity of 350 megawatt and a desalination plant with a daily capacity of 200,000 cubic meters in the vicinity of the city of Bandar Abbas in the Hormozgan Province.

Putin ordered Russia’s first military campaign outside the former Soviet Union in decades to bolster Assad’s regime. In April, Putin lifted a ban on selling five S-300 missile systems to Iran, according to a deal reached in 2007 that was suspended in 2010, as world powers sought to pressure Iran to negotiate limits to its nuclear program. One reformist Iranian news outlet, Sharq, focused on the economic aspects of the visit, defining it as “an important opportunity to overcome the sanctions”.

Russian Federation and Iran signed a contract for Moscow to supply Tehran with S-300 surface-to-air missile systems on 9 November.

Putin and Khamenei both spoke in favour of closer trade ties. He also said that Russian Federation plans to increase gas sales to Asia significantly.

But Kachikwu said that the GECF countries faced a number of challenges, emphasizing the need for “enhanced cooperation and coordination among GECF member countries to promote gas”. Both sides were deliberate in their show of solidarity on their joint approach to Syria. First up was the situation in Syria, where the government’s army is slowly but surely leading the offensive against the radical Islamists.

“Whereas some countries are only indulging in anti-terrorist oratory and taking demonstrative actions, our two countries have proved that this issue can be addressed seriously”, he said in reference to Western powers who have failed to weaken ISIL in the past 18 months.

“This threat should be neutralised wisely and with closer interaction”, he was quoted as saying in a statement, meaning cooperation with Russian Federation. Mr. Assad’s father and the Soviets were pals.

Venezuela’s leftist leader, using his preferred epithet for the USA, told Khamenei, “By stoking unrest and chaos across the globe, and humiliating the identity of countries, the imperialism is seeking to destroy the independence of nations”.

It said that the GECF summit was attended by nine Heads of State and Governments of the forum’s member countries and five representatives of other member and observer countries.

Moscow has announced opening a $5 billion credit line for Iran and help for Tehran’s struggling banking sector is also expected.