Teheran (AsiaNews/Agencies)– The Russian president Vladimir Putin arrived today at Tehran’s Mehrabad airport for what Iranian press is describing as an “historic” visit. He is the first Russian leader to visit Iran since 1943.
The official reason for the trip is the Caspian summit which brings together the sea's five littoral states, which are expected to make an announcement on a convention determining a new legal status for the resource-rich body of water. But Iraq and the issue of nuclear power is also likely to feature on the agenda and therefore the tensions between Iran and the United States.
In a sign of the importance Iran is placing on the visit, beyond the meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Putin is also due to hold talks with spiritual leader Ali Khamenei who never receives non Muslim religious leaders.
Putin’s visit was delayed by a day, no official explanation was provided regarding the delay, but press report a possible assassination plot against him, to have taken place during his trip to the land of the Mullahs.
