Putin to Meet Iran’s Top Leaders in Tehran on Wednesday
1 November 2017

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Tehran Wednesday for meetings with Iran’s top leaders as Moscow voices increasing criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump’s move away from the nuclear agreement with the Islamic Republic.

Putin will hold talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that will focus on the nuclear issue and their cooperation in Syria, as well as economic ties, the Kremlin said in an emailed statement. He’ll also take part in a three-way summit between Russia, Iran and neighboring Azerbaijan.

“Iran wants Russia’s position to be more clear and supportive” over the nuclear pact, which is endangered by the U.S. stance, said Alexei Malashenko, a senior analyst at the Berlin-based Dialogue of Civilizations research group. They’re also likely to discuss Russia and Iran’s postwar balance of responsibilities in Syria, he said.

Trump last month disavowed the 2015 accord to curb Iran’s nuclear program that was negotiated between Tehran and the U.S., Russia, France, Germany, the U.K. and China. He accused Iran of violating the agreement multiple times, though he stopped short of abandoning the pact completely. All of the other participants, as well as inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, say Iran is complying with the deal.

Russia has rejected Trump’s demand to renegotiate the deal. On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that “unpredictable” U.S. behavior was an issue of grave concern, citing the refusal to uphold the Iranian agreement and threats to use force to resolve the crisis on the Korean peninsula.

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