Putin visits Iran on first trip outside former Soviet Union since Ukraine war

• Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Iran for talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
• It is his first trip outside the former Soviet Union since Moscow’s February invasion of Ukraine. Russia wants closer strategic ties with Iran, China and India in the face of sanctions.
• High on the agenda is Turkey’s threat to extend “safe zones” along its border with Syria. Moscow and Tehran oppose any such action by Turkey.

Dubai/London, July 19 (Reuters) – For the first time since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin travelled to Tehran on Tuesday to meet with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Putin will also meet with Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan, the head of NATO, in Tehran for the first time since the invasion, to discuss a deal aimed at enabling the restart of Ukraine’s Black Sea grain exports as well as peace in Syria.

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Putin’s visit sends a clear message to the West about Moscow’s plans to establish tighter strategic ties with Iran, China, and India in the face of Western sanctions. It comes only days after U.S. President Joe Biden visited Israel and Saudi Arabia.

According to Putin’s foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, “the contact with Khamenei is highly vital.” The most crucial topics on the bilateral and global agenda have been the subject of a trustworthy discourse that has grown between them.

“Our positions are similar or same on the majority of subjects.”

BOTH APPROVED
Putin’s visit is appropriate for Iran, which also resents Western economic sanctions and is at odds with the US over Tehran’s nuclear programme and several other problems.

In response to a rising Gulf Arab-Israeli alliance supported by the United States that has the potential to shift the Middle East’s power balance farther away from Iran, its clerical leaders are eager to deepen their strategic ties with Russia.

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According to a senior Iranian official who requested anonymity, “Tehran attempts to gain Moscow’s backing in its struggle with Washington and its regional allies given the shifting geopolitical ties after the Ukraine war.”

Iran is wagering that with Russia’s assistance it can compel Washington to make concessions for the resurrection of a 2015 nuclear deal, emboldened by high oil prices after the Ukraine war.

Although Iran’s petroleum exports to China, a vital source of income for Tehran since U.S. President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions in 2018, have been severely cut in recent months due to Russia’s greater tilt towards Beijing.

According to Reuters, Iran’s crude exports to China have dropped significantly as Beijing has preferred to buy Russian barrels at deep discounts. As a result, about 40 million barrels of Iranian oil are currently sitting aboard tankers at sea in Asia looking for customers.

Putin’s trip was preceded by the signing of a $40 billion memorandum of understanding between the Russian gas giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). View More

UKRAINE, SYRIA
The topic of reducing violence in Syria, where Erdogan has threatened to conduct additional military operations to expand 30-km (20-mile) deep “safe zones” along the border, will be a top priority at the trilateral discussions on Tuesday that will also include Turkey. Any such action by Turkey is opposed by both Moscow and Tehran.

Khamenei warned Erdogan that any military action in northern Syria will undoubtedly affect Turkey, Syria, and the entire region while helping terrorists. “Maintaining the territorial integrity of Syria is very vital,” Khamenei said. View More

Erdogan stated that terrorism remained a concern and threat for both Iran and Turkey, and that the two nations needed to fight against all threats, including Kurdish militants who are regarded terrorists by Ankara in Turkey, Syria, and Iran.

Any Turkish action in Syria would target the YPG militia, which is a vital component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which receives support from the United States and is viewed as a critical ally in the fight against Islamic State. The SDF controls a sizable portion of north Syria.

According to a senior Turkish official, claims that Russian and Kurdish forces were cooperating in some parts of Syria as well as Turkey’s upcoming operation would be reviewed in Tehran.

Strongest backers of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad include Russia and Iran, while insurgents against al-Assad are supported by Turkey.

Putin, who turns 70 this year, hasn’t travelled abroad much lately because of the COVID outbreak and the subsequent Ukraine issue. He visited China in February on his most recent journey outside the former Soviet Union.

The topic of their private discussions will be a strategy to restart Ukrainian grain exports.

A treaty aimed at restarting the shipping of grain from Ukraine across the Black Sea is anticipated to be signed this week by Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and the United Nations.