Ahmadian Meets with Russian President; Putin Praises Tehran-Moscow Relations

The President of Russia, in a meeting with the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, who has traveled to the country, praised the "acceleration in friendly relations" between Tehran and Moscow. According to the Kremlin website, the meeting between Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, and Ali Akbar Ahmadian, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, took place on Thursday, September 13. In this meeting, Vladimir Putin referred to the "acceleration in friendly relations between Russia and Iran in recent years" and stated that this has been due to the support of Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic. The Russian President also expressed hope regarding a meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, at the Kazan summit, mentioning the possibility of a comprehensive agreement being signed between the two countries at that time. According to the Kremlin website, Ali Akbar Ahmadian emphasized during this meeting that there has been no change in Iran's relations with Russia and the expansion of these relations. This meeting comes at a time when the United States and three European countries have announced that in response to Iran's ballistic missile shipments to Russia for use in the war against Ukraine, they will impose sanctions, including against Iran Air. Iran and Russia have denied sending ballistic missiles to Moscow. Ali Akbar Ahmadian has traveled to St. Petersburg to participate in the BRICS security officials' summit. This year, Russia holds the rotating presidency of the group, and the BRICS leaders' summit is scheduled to take place from October 23 to 25 in Kazan.