TEHRAN— In a meeting with the Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei raised a number of pressing issues in the world.

Opening his remarks, Ayatollah Khamenei stressed the necessity of implementing the MOUs and contracts between the two countries, saying such collaborations will benefit Tehran and Moscow in the distant future. 

The Leader emphasized that the events happening all around the world show the need for Iran and Russia to increase mutual cooperation.

The Leader added, “There are many memorandums of understanding and agreements between the two countries, including in the oil and gas sector, which must be followed up and implemented to the end.” 

He also said economic cooperation between Iran and Russia, especially in the wake of Western sanctions, is necessary in line with the interest of both countries. 

Regarding the developments in Ukraine, the Leader said, “War is a harsh and difficult reality, and the Islamic Republic is not at all pleased that ordinary people suffer from it. But in the case of Ukraine, if you didn't take the initiative, the other side would cause a war with its own initiative.”

‘NATO is dangerous entity’

Emphasizing that the Westerners are completely opposed to a strong and independent Russia, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution called NATO a “dangerous entity,” adding, “If the path was open to NATO, it would know no boundaries and if it was not stopped in Ukraine, sometime later, under the pretext of Crimea, they’d start this war.”

Ayatollah Khamenei noted that today the U.S. and the West are weaker than before, and despite their great efforts and expenses, the success of their policies in the region, including in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine has been greatly reduced.

The Leader called the Syrian issue very important and reiterated the position of the Islamic Republic, which is opposing a military attack on this country and the need to prevent it.

He said, “Another important issue in the Syrian issue is the occupation of the fertile and oil-rich areas east of the Euphrates by the Americans, which should be resolved by expelling them from that area.”

Ayatollah Khamenei also condemned the interference of the Israeli regime in the affairs of the region and praised the recent positions of the Russian President against the Israelis.

He further underlined that Tehran will never tolerate policies and plans that would lead to the closing of the border between Iran and Armenia.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution called the long-term cooperation between Iran and Russia “seriously and deeply” beneficial to both countries.

Addressing Putin, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “Your Excellency and our president are both action-oriented and eager to follow-up, so the cooperation between the two countries should reach its peak in this period.”

By confirming the words of the Russia President about the necessity of launching the Rasht-Astara railway, the Leader said it will complete the North-South transportation line and beneficial to both countries.

Ayatollah Khamenei also said vigilance against the deception of the West is necessary, saying “Americans are both bully and cunning” and one of the causes of the collapse of the former Soviet Union was that it was deceived by the Americans’ policies. 

“Of course, Russia has maintained its independence during your tenure.”

He also approved the policy of using national currencies in the trade between the two countries and also using other currencies instead of dollar, suggesting, “Dollar should be slowly removed from the path of global transactions, and this is possible step by step.”

In this meeting, which was attended by President Ebrahim Raisi, Putin discussed the events in Ukraine.

“No one is in favor of war, and the loss of lives of ordinary people is a great tragedy, but the behavior of the West made us have no choice but to react,” the Russian leader stated. 

Enumerating the factors and roots of the differences between Russia and Ukraine, especially the provocative actions of the West and the United States in recent years, including the coup d'état in Ukraine, as well as NATO's expansionist policy despite their previous commitments to avoid any advance towards Russia, the Kremlin ruler said that the European countries had said that they were against Ukraine's membership in NATO, but they gave in under American pressure, which shows their lack of sovereignty and independence.

Putin also listed the assassination of Major General Soleimani as another example of the evils of the Americans. 

Elsewhere in his speech, referring to the Western sanctions against Russia, Putin said, “These sanctions are detrimental to the West and the outcome is problems such as increase in oil prices and the food supply crisis.” 

Referring to the United States’ misuse of dollar to loot other countries, the Russian president said this has weakened global trust in dollar. 

“Russia and Iran are designing new methods for using national currencies in the relations between the two countries,” Putin underscored. 

After approving the positions of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution regarding the Caucasus region, Putin also called the stances of the two countries on the Syrian issue, including opposition to military attack on northwest Syria “completely compatible with each other”.

The Russian president also said, “The region in east of the Euphrates should be under the control of the Syrian military forces.”

Putin also considered the cooperation between the two countries to be progressing in all fields, pointing out that Iran and Russia are jointly fighting terrorism in Syria, and in the military field Moscow is also trying to develop cooperation between the two countries, as well as cooperation and trilateral military exercises with China.