Qasem Soleimani's 'Second Trip' to Moscow for Negotiations with Russian Officials

Reuters reported on Friday, April 16, citing three sources, about Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Republic, making another trip to Moscow to meet with high-ranking Russian officials. Previously, the American news network Fox News had reported that the commander of the IRGC's foreign branch traveled to the Russian capital to meet with Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia. However, Reuters in its Friday report, quoting the Kremlin spokesperson, stated that there is no meeting scheduled with Mr. Soleimani on the President's agenda. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Soleimani's trip to Moscow was on Thursday night, while Fox News mentioned it was on Thursday morning. The same news agency described the purpose of Soleimani's trip as negotiations and discussions about issues such as the delivery of the S-300 defense system to Tehran and 'increased military cooperation.' Iranian media reported on Monday, April 12, about the arrival of the first batch of S-300 air defense system equipment in the country, and the spokesperson for the Islamic Republic's Foreign Ministry stated that 'the first phase of this contract is proceeding as planned.' Fox News reported that the commander of the Quds Force, who is responsible for overseeing Iran's military presence abroad, traveled to Moscow within 48 hours on a private plane belonging to Iran's Mahan Air. Several sources told the news network that Soleimani had postponed this trip several times recently to keep it undisclosed. In late December of last year, the Fars news agency reported, citing 'unofficial sources,' that Soleimani had traveled to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin. However, this news was denied the same day by the Kremlin spokesperson. Additionally, in August 2015, Reuters reported, citing two American security and intelligence sources, that Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the IRGC's Quds Force, who is under United Nations sanctions, had traveled to Russia. Soleimani has been on the UN sanctions list since 2007, which obliges other countries to deny him travel. The United States placed Soleimani on its sanctions list in 2007 due to his role in supporting terrorism, and the European Union also sanctioned the Quds Force commander in 2011.