Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks with his Iranian counterpart Massoud Pezeshkiyan as the crisis in the Middle East continues to threaten to spiral out of control.
The two leaders are meeting in Ashgabat on October 11 on the sidelines of a conference in the capital of Turkmenistan, a tightly controlled Central Asian country.
This is the first of two meetings between Pazeshkian and Putin, and the second is scheduled at the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan, which will last from October 22 to 24.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters ahead of the meeting that while talks would focus on bilateral relations, "the situation in the Middle East will definitely not be neglected and will also be on the agenda."
The meeting is the first between the two since Pezeshkiyan took office on July 30 after winning elections and succeeding hardline predecessor Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May.
Relations between Moscow and Tehran have strengthened since the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Since the early months of the Ukraine war, Russia has been accused of using Iranian Shahed and Mohajer-6 drones, many of which have been recovered after being shot down over Ukrainian cities and battlefields.
Iran initially denied arming Russia before relenting and admitting it had supplied a "limited number of drones" to Moscow before the war.
Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Tehran continues to deny that Russia is using its drones against Ukraine. That did not stop the United States and the European Union from imposing sanctions on Iran for helping Moscow.
Last month, the EU said it had "credible" information provided by allies - that Iran had supplied short-range ballistic missiles to Russia to help Moscow wage a war in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, tensions in the Middle East have risen since Tehran fired about 1 missiles at Israel on October 200, saying the attack was in response to the killing of Tehran-backed militant leaders and a general from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Israel has vowed to launch a "lethal, precise and surprise" attack on Iran in retaliation, as it continues to target targets in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip that it says are aimed at Iran's militant allies.
The recent spiral of violence was triggered by a Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which about 1.200 people were killed and about 250 were taken hostage. Hamas has been declared a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.
The fighting in Gaza prompted another Iranian-backed group, Hezbollah, to fire missiles at Israel in support of Hamas. Hezbollah has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States, while the EU blacklists its armed wing, but not its political party.
The Israeli military responded by launching massive airstrikes on Beirut and southern Lebanon, as well as a ground incursion into southern Lebanon aimed at destroying the Iranian-allied militant group, whose political party has seats in the Lebanese parliament.
Further unsettling the region, more than three dozen hardline Iranian lawmakers on October 10 asked the government to revise its nuclear doctrine to address atomic weapons.
In a letter to the Supreme National Security Council, they said Western powers cannot control Israel, making nuclear weapons "Iran's option to create deterrence."
Iran has been hit by waves of economic sanctions over its nuclear program, which saw a surge in uranium enrichment capacity after the United States under former President Donald Trump withdrew from a landmark 2015 deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that curbed Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for for relief from sanctions.
Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful civilian purposes, but government officials recently raised alarm by saying it may change its "nuclear doctrine" if it is attacked or its existence threatens Israel.
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