TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Iran starting Tuesday aims to deepen ties with regional powerhouses as part of Moscow’s challenge to the United States and Europe amid its campaign in Ukraine.
In just his second trip abroad since Russian tanks rolled into the neighboring country in February, Putin is due to hold talks with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on pressing issues facing the region, including the conflict in Syria and the UN supported the proposal to resume the export of Ukrainian grain to alleviate the world food crisis.
As the West piles sanctions on Russia and the costly campaign drags on, Putin seeks to strengthen ties with Tehran, another target of heavy US sanctions and a potential military and trade partner. Russian officials have visited an airport in central Iran at least twice in recent weeks to inspect Tehran’s weaponized drones for possible use in Ukraine, the White House said.
But perhaps most importantly, Tehran offers Putin a chance for a high-stakes meeting with Erdogan, who has tried to help mediate talks on a peaceful settlement of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as well as aid negotiations to unblock Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea.
NATO member Turkey has found itself pitted against Russia in bloody conflicts in Azerbaijan, Libya and Syria. But Turkey has not imposed sanctions on the Kremlin, making it a much-needed partner for Moscow. Struggling with rapid inflation and a rapidly depreciating currency, Turkey also relies on the Russian market.
The meeting also has symbolic significance for Putin’s domestic audience, showing Russia’s international influence even as it grows more isolated and sinks deeper into confrontation with the West. It comes just days after US President Joe Biden visited Israel and Saudi Arabia – Tehran’s main rivals in the region.
From Jerusalem and Jeddah, Biden called on Israel and Arab countries to push back against Russian, Chinese and Iranian influence, which has expanded as America’s withdrawal from the region is felt.
It was a tough sell. Israel maintains good relations with Putin, a necessity given Russia’s presence in Syria, Israel’s northeastern neighbor and a frequent target of his airstrikes. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have so far refused to pump more oil outside the plan approved by their energy alliance with Moscow.
But all countries – despite their long-standing rivalries – could agree to come closer to confront Iran, which has rapidly advanced its nuclear program since former President Donald Trump abandoned Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers and reimposed crushing sanctions. Negotiations to restore the deal have reached an impasse. During his trip, Biden said he would be willing to use military force against Iran as a last resort.
Backed into a corner by the West and its regional rivals, Iran’s government is ramping up uranium enrichment, chasing dissent and grabbing headlines with upbeat, hardline positions designed to keep Iran’s currency, the rial, from collapsing. With no 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) center of dynamic diplomacy,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdolakhian wrote on Twitter, adding that the meetings would “develop economic cooperation, focus on regional security through a political solution… and ensure food security.”
Fadahossein Maleki, a member of Iran’s parliament’s influential National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, described Russia as Iran’s “most strategic partner” on Monday. His comments belied decades of hostility stemming from Russia’s occupation of Iran during World War II — and its refusal to leave afterward.
Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov called Iran “an important partner for Russia” at a briefing on Monday, saying the two countries shared a “desire to take their relationship to a new level of strategic partnership.”
In his fifth visit to Tehran, Putin will meet Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with whom he has a “confidential dialogue”, Ushakov said. He will also hold talks with President Raisi on issues including the Tehran nuclear deal, in which Russia is a key signatory. The leaders met in Moscow in January and again last month in Turkmenistan.
The focus of the talks between the three presidents will be the decades-old conflict in Syria, where Iran and Russia have backed the government of President Bashar al-Assad while Turkey has backed armed opposition factions. Russia intervened in the conflict in 2015, joining forces with Lebanese Hezbollah fighters and Iranian forces and using its air power to support Assad’s fledgling army and eventually turned the tide in his favor.
Ushakov said the countries would discuss efforts to promote a political settlement, while Erdogan is expected to accept Turkey’s threats of a new military offensive in northern Syria to drive US-backed Syrian Kurdish fighters from its borders. The operation is part of Turkey’s plans to create a safe zone along the border with Syria to encourage the voluntary return of Syrian refugees.
Russia categorically opposes the planned Turkish invasion, Ushakov emphasized. Humanitarian issues in Syria also came into focus after Russia used its veto power in the UN Security Council last week to impose a freeze on aid deliveries to 4.1 million people in rebel-held northwest Syria after six months , instead of one year.
Negotiations on lifting the Russian blockade and the release of Ukrainian grain on world markets will also be on the agenda. Last week, representatives of the United Nations, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey reached preliminary agreement on some aspects of a deal to guarantee the export of 22 million tons of desperately needed grain and other agricultural products blocked in Ukraine’s Black Sea ports by the fighting.
Tuesday’s meeting between Putin and Erdogan could help clear remaining obstacles, an important step toward easing a food crisis that has sent prices of vital commodities such as wheat and barley soaring.
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Isachenkov reported from Moscow. Associated Press writers Isabelle DeBre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Suzanne Fraser in Ankara, Turkey contributed.
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