Iran wants Turkey, Russia backing for its Syria policy

Iran hopes that by hosting Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan that it will receive backing from Russia and Turkey and that Iran can also be a key broker to what is happening in Syria. The Iranian media reports on Monday night indicated the basic agenda of the meetings, as Turkey’s leader arrived in Iran.

Iran’s foreign minister has indicated that this important meeting will examine issues relating to Syria. Syria is therefore the first priority for Iran at the moment. Iran uses Syria as a place to entrench its forces and threaten Israel and US forces. In a conversation on the eve of the meeting of Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi, Putin and Erdogan, Iran’s Fars News says that the meeting will seek to reduce any tensions in Syria.
“The Turkish side is talking about the possibility of a military operation up to 30 kilometers from the Syrian border, and we tried to resolve this crisis and Turkey’s security concerns from the political path.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry

The issue of tensions is important because Russia is distracted by the Ukraine war. Turkey is demanding a new invasion of part of Syria. Meanwhile Russia could draw down forces, which could destabilize the Syrian regime by enabling Iran to grow its influence. Reports say Syria’s foreign minister may also visit Iran in coming days. Iran’s foreign ministry says that it wants to prevent a new Turkish military operation and a new security crisis in Syria. “The Turkish side is talking about the possibility of a military operation up to 30 kilometers from the Syrian border, and we tried to resolve this crisis and Turkey’s security concerns from the political path,” Iran’s foreign ministry said, according to the report.

A man cleans an area of a residential building damaged by a Russian military strike, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, in Kharkiv, Ukraine July 11, 2022. (credit: REUTERS/NACHO DOCE)

“Of course, in this sensitive situation, one of the issues on the agenda is that instead of resorting to war and further displacement of a new wave of Syrian people, we can help solve this issue through political means,” the report said as well. “The foreign minister stated that the return of Syrian refugees to their homes and cities, helping peace, stability and security in Syria are among the issues that are on the agenda of this tripartite meeting.”

This is the seventh meeting of the three presidents. Iran has a new president, but Putin and Erdogan have guided their countries during the 11 years of the Syrian civil war. Russia, Iran and Turkey oppose the US role in Syria. “In this regard, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is coming to Tehran this evening to participate in this meeting and make a bilateral trip, and Vladimir Putin is going to visit Tehran tomorrow,” the report says. That means that the Turkish leader’s trip is of utmost importance, at least in terms of the time spent in Iran. Putin’s trip is also historic because of the Ukrainian war and reports that Russia is seeking drone sales. If Syria’s foreign minister also comes, this will make for a series of key meetings regarding the future of Syria.

Meanwhile Turkish media says that Turkey could still try to freeze the ascension of Finland and Sweden to NATO. This illustrates that Turkey’s real interests are working with Russia and Iran and that opposing two democracies joining NATO is one of the goals of Ankara. Russia’s TASS media also reported that “Tehran is preparing the necessary documents to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali said.” This forms part of the backdrop of the meetings in Iran. “The process of obtaining full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization consists of numerous stages that a candidate country needs to implement within the established time frame,” Jalali pointed out. “According to the schedule, Iran is preparing documents, passing through these stages and notifying the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on a regular basis,” the envoy added.