Iran is watching with concern the developments that have arisen, after Joe Biden’s visit to Israel, Palestine and Saudi Arabia with the aim of increasing oil production and strengthening the axis against Iran. The nuclear threat hastened the convergence of interests among the Sunni Arab countries. Given these meetings of the US President in the Middle East, Iran sees the developments as a threat to its regional influence and is making its own corresponding moves.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi met in Iran last Tuesday. The official topic of the tripartite meeting was ending the war in Syria, but individual topics are of greater interest. Iran is to supply Russia with hundreds of attack and spy drones. According to the American intelligence services, it may have already begun to supply it, while in July the training of the Russians in their use will begin.
In Tehran, the Russian President also had a separate bilateral meeting with Erdogan. For the Turkish president, who is also mediating between Russia and Ukraine to open Black Sea ports for Ukrainian grain exports, the meetings in Tehran is an opportunity to project himself as the leader of a regional power.
Iran, Russia and Turkey pledged to continue their cooperation to “exterminate terrorists” in Syria, according to a statement issued on Tuesday at the end of a tripartite summit in Tehran.
The three countries “rejected all illegal self-determination initiatives” and “showed their will to oppose separatist aspirations that could undermine the sovereignty and integrity of Syria” and threaten the security of neighboring countries, the statement added. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin, meeting with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Tehran, called for more unity in Syria policy and accused the West of meddling.
The West “has charted a path to dismember the country,” Putin said. This should be opposed jointly by Russia, Turkey and Iran. “In many ways, the destructive line of Western states, led by the US, is encouraging this in Syria,” Putin said. Ankara, Moscow and Tehran should therefore do everything to make possible the return of these areas to the control of the “legitimate government”.
