Iranian media are reporting that the country’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, will visit Moscow next week and meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
Pezeshkian will take part in the summit of gas-exporting countries, which is to be held in the Russian capital on 27 October.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency, citing Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, reported that the leaders will discuss economic cooperation and geopolitics.
Pezeshkian’s visit to Moscow comes against a backdrop of mounting threats from the US and Israel to resume attacks on Iran.
On 23 October, the US Ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, warned that Washington could strike Iran as early as this weekend.
Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Iran. This is his first trip there since the start of the war involving Iran at the end of February.
At the eighth summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, participants will discuss trends in the global gas market, cooperation between exporters and the strengthening of natural gas’s role in the global economy.
Recently, the ISW highlighted statements by senior Kremlin officials in support of Iran: they openly described the US as a long-term adversary of Russia. This came despite the US’s recent authorisation of exports of Russian diesel fuel.