Putin Meets Iranian Leader On First Trip Outside Former Soviet Union Since Ukraine War

Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran on Tuesday, the Kremlin leader's first trip outside the former Soviet Union since Moscow's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.

In Tehran, Putin also held his first face-to-face meeting since the invasion with a NATO leader, Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan, to discuss a deal that would resume Ukraine's Black Sea grain exports as well as the conflict in northern Syria.

Putin's trip, which comes just days after U.S. President Joe Biden visited Israel and Saudi Arabia, sends a strong message to the West about Moscow's plans to forge closer strategic ties with Iran, China and India in the face of Western sanctions.

Footage of Putin's meeting with Khamenei showed the Russian leader and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi sat together a few metres from the supreme leader, in a spartan white room with an Iranian flag and a portrait of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini.

Khamenei called for long-term cooperation between Iran and Russia, telling Putin that the two countries needed to stay vigilant against "Western deception", Iran's state TV reported.

He said Putin had ensured Russia "maintained its independence" from the United States and expressed support for countries to start using their own national currencies when trading goods. "The U.S. dollar should be gradually taken off global trade, and this can be done gradually," Khamenei said.

Despite the suffering endured by ordinary people in war, he said Moscow had little alternative in Ukraine. "If you had not taken the initiative, the other side (West) would have caused a war on its own initiative," he told Putin.

BOTH SANCTIONED

For Iran, also chafing under Western economic sanctions and at loggerheads with the United States over Tehran's nuclear programme and a range of other issues, Putin's visit is timely.

Its clerical leaders are keen to strengthen strategic relations with Russia in the face of an emerging U.S.-backed Gulf Arab-Israeli bloc that could shift the Middle East balance of power further away from Iran.

"Both our countries have good experience in countering terrorism and this has provided much security to our region," Raisi said after talks with Putin. "I hope your visit to Iran will increase cooperation between our two independent countries."

Emboldened by high oil prices since the Ukraine war, Iran is betting that with Russia's support it could pressure Washington to offer concessions for the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal.

However, Russia's increased tilt towards Beijing in recent months has significantly reduced Iran's crude exports to China - a key source of income for Tehran since then-U.S. President Donald Trump reimposed sanctions in 2018.

In May, Reuters reported that Iran's crude exports to China have fallen sharply as Beijing favoured heavily discounted Russian barrels, leaving almost 40 million barrels of Iranian oil stored on tankers at sea in Asia and seeking buyers.

Ahead of Putin's arrival, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and Russian gas producer Gazprom signed a memorandum of understanding worth around $40 billion.

SYRIA, UKRAINE

High on the agenda in Tuesday's trilateral talks that also included Turkey were efforts to reduce violence in Syria, where Erdogan has threatened to launch more military operations to extend 30-km (20-mile) deep "safe zones" along the border. Moscow and Tehran both oppose any such action by Turkey.

"Maintaining the territorial integrity of Syria is very important, and any military attack in northern Syria will definitely harm Turkey, Syria and the entire region, and benefit terrorists," Khamenei told Erdogan.

Erdogan said terrorism remained a common concern and threat for Iran and Turkey, and the two countries needed to wage a battle against all threats, including Kurdish fighters in Turkey, Syria and Iran considered terrorists by Ankara.

Any Turkish operation in Syria would attack the Kurdish YPG militia, a key part of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that controls large parts of north Syria and is regarded by Washington as an important ally against Islamic State.

Russia and Iran are Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's strongest backers, while Turkey supports anti-Assad insurgents.

Putin, who turns 70 this year, has made few foreign trips in recent years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and then the Ukraine crisis. His last trip beyond the former Soviet Union was to China in February.

Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations are expected to sign a deal later this week aimed at resuming the shipping of grain from Ukraine across the Black Sea.

"With your mediation we have moved forward," Putin told Erdogan after their bilateral meeting. "Not all the issues have been resolved yet, but the fact that there is movement is already good."