Iran’s leader calls US regional policies a threat to Tehran and Moscow

Putin played a vital role in negotiating Iran’s nuclear deal with six world powers in July.

In Tehran, the two countries made a show of their closeness.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday hailed what he called President Vladimir Putin’s “measures and decision” on Syria which have led to the “enhancement of Russia’s regional and global status”, Iran’s leader’s website reported.

The two countries have selected 35 priority projects in energy, port facilities, and railway electrification, according to Putin.

Since the announcement of the deal, however, Russian Federation has wasted no time in re-energizing relations, declaring immediately that it would unfreeze a contract to supply Iran with advanced anti-aircraft missiles, which the USA fears could prevent a military strike against Iran’s nuclear sites. Vladimir Putin emphasized that the Russian-led operation is a “complex” mission that also involves work coordinating the efforts of the coalition which includes Syria, Iran and Iraq.

On Monday, Syrian state media and a monitoring group said government troops backed by Russian airstrikes captured areas from the Islamic State in west-central Homs province, according to the Associated Press. Positional warfare is in progress at the moment, and neither party to the conflict has achieved a decisive breakthrough. However its campaign appears to have hit rebel positions allowing Syria’s army to regain ground.

Moscow and Tehran have been the key backers of Syrian President Bashar Assad throughout his nation’s civil war, which has killed over 250,000 people and turned millions into refugees. “At a certain stage the question will arise whether the Islamic Revolutionary Guards will agree to support a secular regime in Syria”, Akhmetov said.

Iran and Russian Federation have become increasingly allied in Syria providing support that has propped up Assad s government and forces since an uprising erupted in 2011.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution stressed: “On the issue of Syria, the Americans and their cohorts are after attaining their goals in the arena of politics and at the negotiating table because they could not attain them in the military arena. But there is a big question mark over whether the Syrian and Iranian armies will agree with the need for such political reform”, Akhmetov said.

Russian Federation and Iran earlier signed a contract for Moscow to supply Tehran with S-300 surface-to-air missile systems. “This plot is a threat for all nations and countries particularly for Russian Federation and Iran”.

Meanwhile, the US State Department has said that it only wanted a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis.