Mr. Putin: Russia is still a loyal friend of Iran

The Kremlin today said President Vladimir Putin sent congratulations to Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian on the occasion of the country’s New Year.

“President Putin wished the Iranian people to overcome the harsh challenges worthily. He also emphasized that in this difficult time, Moscow remains a loyal friend and reliable partner of Tehran,” the Kremlin said.

Tehran – Moscow has maintained close relations over the years. The US and European countries have accused Iran of supporting Russia in the conflict in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia criticized the US and Israel for conducting a “dangerous and irresponsible attack” on Iran, which Moscow believes is pushing the entire Middle East into the abyss.

The Washington Post newspaper earlier that month quoted sources saying that Russia was providing intelligence to Iran about the location of US military assets in the Middle East, including warships and aircraft. US special envoy Steve Witkoff said on March 10 that Moscow has denied sharing intelligence information with Tehran in the Middle East conflict, adding that Washington believes this.

In an interview published on March 14, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described Russia and China as Iran’s two “strategic partners”, when asked whether these two countries provide intelligence and military support to Tehran.

“We have close cooperation with each other and that is continuing, including military cooperation. I will not go into details. We have good cooperative relations with these countries politically, economically and militarily,” he said.