Putin says whole world ‘amazed’ by Iranian nation’s ‘courage, heroism, resilience’

Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised Iran’s response to US and Israeli aggression, saying the whole world is "amazed" by the Iranian nation’s "courage, heroism and resilience."

“The whole world is closely following what is happening and is amazed at the courage and heroism of the Iranian nation and its resilience,” Putin said on Thursday at the plenary session of the 23rd annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club in Moscow.

He also pointed to a deep “bench” of high-level figures in Iran’s administration, armed forces and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), “people ready for self-sacrifice in the name of their people.”

The remarks come months after the United States and the Israeli regime launched an unprovoked war of aggression against the Islamic Republic, assassinating senior political and military leaders. At the same time, Tehran was engaged in indirect talks with Washington.

Putin called the killing of Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, a tremendous mistake.

“Mr. Larijani — I knew him personally well — was a very positively minded person, ready to seek mutually acceptable compromises, above all in the interests of the Iranian people,” the Russian president said, according to TASS and RIA Novosti.

“Besides any legal assessments, this is of course a mistake, because such a person would be needed today to find compromises and solutions that could bring peace to the Persian Gulf,” he stated.

Putin said Larijani had visited Russia for talks on Iran’s enriched uranium and was a figure with whom constructive dialogue was possible.

He recalled that Tehran had at one stage agreed to a Russian proposal to relocate the material, an arrangement Washington, and even the Israeli regime, initially accepted.

Iran’s top security official meets Putin, conveys Leader’s message

Iran’s top security official meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, delivering a message from Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

Moscow, he said, had already carried out such a transfer in 2015 and remained ready to repeat it. The Americans later hardened their position and demanded that the uranium go only to the United States, after which Iran toughened its own stance. 

Larijani, Putin said, then proposed a joint Russian-Iranian enterprise on Iranian territory to dilute the material.

The Russian leader added that Moscow’s offer remains on the table.

Putin also expressed hope that the Strait of Hormuz would reopen and that illegal sanctions against Iran would be lifted, “an objective that Tehran is rightfully pursuing.”

Once that happened, he said, there would be no reason for restrictions on passage through Hormuz or Bab el-Mandeb. “We support that.”

Iran and Russia have deepened strategic ties in recent years in the face of sweeping US sanctions and Western isolation. A 20-year comprehensive strategic partnership agreement was signed last year, and Moscow continues work on new units at the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

Russian officials have repeatedly condemned the US-Israeli war of aggression and offered to help mediate a settlement that respects Iran’s sovereignty.

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