Russian President Vladimir Putin left Iran late on Tuesday after a trip that saw him reinforce ties with the Islamic republic and distance himself from Western warnings over its nuclear program.
Putin attended a summit of Caspian Sea states and held talks with top Iranian leaders -- a boost for Iran at a time of increasing Western pressure.
His trip was marked by the heaviest security following a report that a squad of suicide bombers planned to kill him, and even his departure time was kept closely under wraps by Russian and Iranian officials.
The president left Iran around midnight after an exhausting one day visit that lasted around 16 hours and included talks with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and supreme leader Ali Khamenei, Iranian news agencies reported.
He warned the West not to launch an attack over the Iranian nuclear program, insisted Iran's Russian-built first nuclear power plant would be finished on schedule and backed its right to nuclear energy.
A joint statement issued by the Iranian presidency emphasized "the closeness of Russian and Iranian positions over the key world questions and the development of cooperation to establish a world order that is more just."
Unsurprisingly, Iran's hardline press was keen to play up the significance of Putin's visit as a sign of the differences between Russia and other world powers.
"Maybe the most important result of Putin's trip is to show the independence of Russia towards America and the West," said Kayhan, the mouthpiece of Iran's clerical authorities.
"The Russian statements showed a deep difference of opinion between Russia on one side and America and France on the other side in dealing with Iran's nuclear case," the hardline Jomhouri Islami said.
Ahmadinejad and Putin in their joint statement emphasized "the necessity of solving as quickly as possible the situation over the Iranian nuclear program through politics and diplomacy."
They also reaffirmed Russia's commitment to finishing Iran's first nuclear power plant in Bushehr "in line with the agreed calendar" although Putin complained about its "worn-out equipment."
It also said that Russia and Iran would speed up their discussions for the sale and construction of Tupolev 214 and 334 aircraft to Iran and spoke of increased cooperation in energy and aerospace.
Amid continued questions over whether the US will attack Iran to end its nuclear defiance, Putin gave a clear signal that military action was not the way to solve problems.
"It is important ... that we not only do not use any kind of force but also do not even think about the possibility of using force," he told his fellow Caspian Sea leaders gathered for the summit.
Along with the presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, Putin declared the states "would not allow their territory to be used by a third country to commit military action against one of the parties."
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS