PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran’s President Rouhani in Tehran, November 2015


Iran’s President Rouhani will meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in a summit in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku on Monday.

The meeting with Putin and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev is officially to explore areas of economic cooperation between the three countries, including commerce, energy, communications, and transport.

Iranian media also say there will be a bilateral session between Rouhani and Putin. Their probable discussion on the state of the Russian-Iranian intervention in Syria’s civil war is covered by the announcement of talks on “the fight against terrorism”.

The two countries suffered a notable setback this weekend when their aerial and ground intervention could not prevent a rebel breakthrough near Syria’s largest city Aleppo.

See Syria Daily, August 7: Rebels Break Aleppo Siege

Rouhani and Putin last met during the Russian President’s visit to Tehran in late November.

At a press conference after his arrival in Baku on Sunday, Rouhani declared, “Today, all countries of the world admit Iran’s role in establishment of regional security as positive, influential and important.”

The Iranian President also defended Tehran’s July 2015 nuclear deal with the 5+1 Powers, under pressure from hardliners, including the Supreme Leader. However, in a jab at the US, he said the agreement could not be successful if it was “based on a win-lose policy”.