Russia, Iran and Turkey leaders meet in Tehran to discuss Syria’s future, Ukraine war

Europe, Middle East July 20, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

The leaders of Russia, Iran, and Turkey met in Tehran to discuss the conflict in Syria and also the Ukraine war.

The three leaders gathered for the 7th summit in the Astana trilateral summit to discuss the recent developments in Syria, the fight against the terrorist groups that pose a threat to regional security, the humanitarian situation, and the voluntary return of the Syrians to their homes. The Astana Peace Process Guarantor Countries aimed at ending over 11 years of war in Syria.

“Terrorism of PKK, PYD, and YPG is a common issue for all of us. We should not forget that the terrorist organization targets the territorial integrity of Syria,” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after the trilateral meeting.

Putin wins Khamenei’s support

Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with the leaders of Iran and Turkey on Tuesday on a trip to shore up friendly relations with the two countries. This is Putin’s first trip outside Russia since the start of the Ukraine war in February.

Putin won support from Iran as the country’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said the West opposes an “independent and strong” Russia. Khamenei said that if Russia hadn’t sent troops into Ukraine, NATO would have done it eventually. “If the road would have been open to NATO, it will not recognize any limit and boundary,” Khamenei told Putin. Had Moscow not acted first, he added, the Western alliance “would have waged a war” to return the Crimean Peninsula that Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014 back to Kyiv’s control.

Khamenei highlighted the need for stronger cooperation between Iran and Russia, especially after the western sanctions, saying “The long-term cooperation between Iran and Russia is deeply beneficial to both countries,”. Putin said that Russia and Iran are considering using their national currencies in their bilateral transactions.

Putin and Raisi — *^{Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran on July 19, 2022. (Image Credit: TASS/Sergei Savostyanov)}*

Russian President Putin also held a meeting with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in which the two sides discussed bilateral cooperation, especially in economic, security, infrastructure, energy, trade, and industrial fields. On the day Putin arrived in Tehran, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and Russian gas producer Gazprom signed a memorandum of understanding worth around $40 billion, Iran’s oil ministry’s news agency Shana said.

Turkey, Iran to extend gas export contract

Iran and Türkiye agreed to extend their gas supply contract for another 25 years and set an ambitious trade target of $30 billion. Iran has been supplying around 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year to Turkey but the two countries have now agreed to start negotiations on a new gas exports deal that will allow the increased supply of natural gas from Iran to Turkey for a period of 25 years starting in 2026. Iran has the world’s second-largest gas reserves after Russia, but Western sanctions have slowed the development of exports.