Putin to Visit Iran, Meet Imam Khamenei

Local Editor

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution His Eminence Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei as well as his counterpart Hassan Rouhani during a scheduled visit to Tehran Monday.

The Kremlin announced the visit as Moscow goes on a diplomatic push over the Syria conflict.

According to Putin's top foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov, the talks with the Iranian leadership will focus on "issues in bilateral relations, including atomic energy, oil and gas and military-technical cooperation."

On the Syrian level, both countries are helping fight terrorism with Moscow flying a bombing campaign and Iran commanding troops on the ground confronting the terrorist groups there, namely "ISIS."

Putin has stepped up his push for a broader coalition of countries to fight "ISIS" terrorists in Syria after confirming this week the bombing of a Russian passenger jet over Egypt and following last week's bloody attacks in Paris.

He is further looking to strengthen business ties with Iran as Russian firms eye lucrative opportunities after the landmark nuclear deal that Tehran struck with world powers in July.

Separately, and despite earlier reports that Putin could host the Saudi King Salman in Russia for a meeting soon, Ushakov said that the two sides were eyeing a possible date next year after they spoke at the latest G20 summit in Turkey.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team