Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, says Iran coordinates its military presence in Syria with Moscow and Damascus.

Velayati made the remarks in Moscow Friday amid reports that Iran's role in Syria will be a key item at a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump in Helsinki on Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Putin in Moscow Wednesday, saying after the meeting, “Our opinion is known that Iran needs to leave Syria.”

Velayati said Iran and Russia's presence in Syria will continue to protect the country against terrorist groups and America's aggression.

They "will immediately leave if Iraqi and Syrian governments want it, not because of Israel and America's pressure," he added.

Velayati touched on the objectives of the Israeli leader's visit to Moscow where he "repeated his delusional and threadbare accusations against Iran," state news agency IRNA reported.

"The process of developing relations between Iran and Russia is not one-sided and therefore, the irrelevant, meaningless and interventionist claims made by Netanyahu do not affect Iran-Russia relations," he said.

Velayati, the Leader's adviser on international affairs, traveled to Moscow on Wednesday to convey a message from Ayatollah Khamenei and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's written letter to President Putin.

"It can be said that the sending of the important and strategic message of the Supreme Leader, as well as the message of the president and long talks with Putin were a turning point in the relations between Iran and Russia," he said.

Velayati said it was agreed that the decisions of the meeting be followed up and pursued effectively by the authorities of the two countries and reported to Ayatollah Khamenei and Presidents Putin and Rouhani so that any problem could be solved with the order of top officials.

Velayati described his Thursday meeting with Putin ahead of the Trump-Putin summit as "very decisive."

"On the one hand, NATO has convened under the US centrality, raising certain points in a clause against Iran. On the other hand, there are plans for Iran and Russia to consider uniting against the pressures of America and its followers in the region and some Western countries."

The official touched on the alliance of the "resistance front" as well as Iran and Russia in their campaign against foreign-backed terrorists in Syria, saying they will be the winner of the ongoing conflict.

"We hope that the cooperation between Iran and Russia will be a model for cooperation among Iran, China, India and some of the major East Asian countries, helping publicly realize a strategic vision to develop relations with the eastern countries."

Iran's former Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told Tasnim news agency that Velayati's visit to Moscow was "very important," taking place in a "sensitive juncture."

"Mr. Putin seated Dr. Velayati across from himself at the table, making the meeting be seen a serious negotiation and taking any sense of formality out of it. The sort of sitting arrangement represented the atmosphere that exists in the relationship," he said.

"Face-to-face negotiations are reserved for the peers in diplomatic relations and this arrangement suggested that Mr. Putin had placed Dr. Velayati in a rank akin to himself and attached importance to the meeting," Asefi said.

The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin and Velayati exchanged views on bilateral Tehran-Moscow relations and the developments in the Middle East, including the Syria crisis.</s>BUENOS AIRES, July 13 — Argentina has asked Russia to arrest former Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati for extradition in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires, the foreign ministry said yesterday.

Velayati is in Russia as a special advisor to President Hassan Rouhani and will travel to China today, so the same request has also been made to Chinese authorities, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Argentina is awaiting a response from Russia to the request, which was made “within the framework of the extradition treaty between the two countries,” the statement said.

Velayati was foreign minister when a bomb destroyed the headquarters of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) on July 18, 1994 leaving 85 dead and 300 people wounded.

He is charged with “committing the crime of homicide, classified as doubly aggravated for having been committed with racial or religious hatred and a suitable method to cause widespread danger,” according to the judge responsible for the case.

Lebanon’s Shiah Hezbollah group is accused of the carrying out the bombing of the Jewish center and an attack on Israel’s embassy in Buenos Aires two years earlier at Iran’s demand. — AFP</s>A top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed his country’s “strategic relationship” with Russia on Wednesday during a visit to Moscow, part of a diplomatic offensive by Tehran as it braces for renewed US sanctions.

Ali Akbar Velayati, who is due to meet President Vladimir Putin, also took a swipe at US President Donald Trump, saying his “unreliable” actions made Tehran’s close ties with Moscow all the more necessary. The United States pulled out of a multinational deal in May to lift sanctions against Iran in return for curbs to its nuclear programme. Washington says it will reimpose sanctions and has told other countries to halt all imports of Iranian oil from Nov. 4 or face US financial measures.

“The relationship between Iran and the Russian Federation is a strategic relationship and in recent years the collective bilaterial and regional relations have expanded,” Iran’s ISNA news agency quoted Velayati as saying on arrival in Moscow. He said he would deliver messages to Putin from Iran’s Supreme Leader and President Hassan Rouhani and that they would discuss the “very sensitive” global situation.

Velayati cited Russian and Iranian cooperation in Syria, where they both support President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in the seven-year Syrian civil war against what the Iranian official called “terrorism and its sponsors”. “Only a strategic and long-term relationship (with Russia) can continue this cooperation,” said Velayati, who was also due to meet Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak in Moscow.

Velayati, who is also expected to visit China in the near future, described Trump as an “unreliable individual… with relation to international law who necessitates more and more cooperation (between Iran and Russia)”. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, a special adviser on international affairs to the speaker of Iran’s parliament, said Velayati was scheduled to meet Putin on Thursday and would discuss ways to confront US policy in the Middle East region.

“A frank dialogue with Russian leaders at the highest levels and exchanging views can lead to the views of the two countries moving closer and help in finding ways to increase stability and security in the region and confront the improper policies of America and its allies,” Amir-Abdollahian, a former deputy foreign minister, said on Wednesday, according to state media.

A US State Department official said this month that Washington’s goal was to get as many countries as possible down to zero Iranian oil imports. However, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday the United States might consider requests from some countries to be exempted from sanctions.

 Apart from the United States, the other signatories to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal – Russia, China, Germany, France and Britain – have said they still support the accord.

But European firms are reluctant to risk far-reaching US financial penalties they would face for doing business in Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who views Iran as Israel’s arch-enemy and strongly backs Trump’s decision to quit the nuclear deal, was also visiting Moscow on Wednesday. Asked about Netanyahu’s visit, Velayati said: “His presence or absence in Russia has no effect on our strategic mission in Moscow.” Israel is concerned that Iran is establishing a military presence in neighbouring Syria and it has attacked Iranian targets there.

Amir-Abollahian said Netanyahu was likely to ask for Putin’s help to push Iran’s military advisers out of Syria but added that this was an issue that could only be decided between Tehran and Damascus.

 Trump and Putin are expected to discuss Iran’s regional role and the Syrian conflict at a summit in Helsinki next Monday.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App</s>Argentina has asked Russia to arrest former Iranian foreign minister Ali Akbar Velayati for extradition in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires, the foreign ministry said Thursday.

Velayati is in Russia as a special advisor to President Hassan Rouhani and will travel to China on Friday, so the same request has also been made to Chinese authorities, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Argentina is awaiting a response from Russia to the request, which was made "within the framework of the extradition treaty between the two countries," the statement said.

Velayati was foreign minister when a bomb destroyed the headquarters of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) on July 18, 1994 leaving 85 dead and 300 people wounded.

He is charged with "committing the crime of homicide, classified as doubly aggravated for having been committed with racial or religious hatred and a suitable method to cause widespread danger," according to the judge responsible for the case.

Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah group is accused of the carrying out the bombing of the Jewish center and an attack on Israel's embassy in Buenos Aires two years earlier at Iran's demand.</s>BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — An Argentine federal judge investigating the 1994 Buenos Aires AMIA Jewish center bombing has asked Russian officials to arrest a high-level Iranian adviser to the country’s supreme leader in connection with the attack.

Ali Akbar Velayati was scheduled to meet with President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday in Moscow. Velayati, who was Iran’s foreign minister at the time of the terrorist attack and has been implicated in ordering the bombing, is now an adviser on international affairs to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Velayati is among special envoys that Iran is sending to various countries in response to the US withdrawal earlier this year from the 2015 nuclear deal.

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“After Mr. Trump’s strategic mistake in unilaterally withdrawing, the Islamic Republic of Iran decided to send special envoys to different countries conveying the message of high officials of Iran containing our stances, positions, and approaches towards this arrogant and illegal move of the US,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said in describing the Wednesday visit of Velayati to Moscow.

Following news reports of the visit, Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral requested the arrest of Velayati. There has been an international arrest warrant against Velayati and seven other Iranian officials since 2006. The AMIA bombing killed 85 and injured hundreds.

Iran also is believed to be behind the 1992 car bombing that destroyed the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 and injuring 242.

In 2016, ahead of another Velayati trip, Argentina made requests for his arrest to Singapore and Malaysia but was not successful.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also met with Putin in Moscow on Wednesday when he discussed Israel’s demands for a withdrawal of Iranian forces from Syria, where they are helping the regime battle rebels in a civil war.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.</s>Argentina's Foreign Ministry says it has asked Russia to arrest and extradite former Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, citing his alleged role in a 1994 bombing in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people.

Velayati, who is now a top aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was visiting Moscow on July 12 for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, but planned to travel to China on July 13.

Argentina's ministry said in a statement that it had made the same extradition request to China and was awaiting Russia's response to its request, which it said was made "within the framework of the extradition treaty between the two countries."

Velayati was foreign minister when a bomb destroyed the headquarters of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association on July 18, 1994, leaving 85 people dead and 300 wounded. It was the biggest terrorist attack in Argentina's history.

Argentine prosecutors have described Velayati as one of the "ideological masterminds behind the attack," which targeted Argentina's Jewish population of 300,000.

Velayati is charged in Argentina with "committing the crime of homicide, classified as doubly aggravated for having been committed with racial or religious hatred and a suitable method to cause widespread danger," according to the judge responsible for the case.

Lebanon's Shi'ite Hizballah militant group is accused of carrying out the bombing of the Jewish center as well as an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires two years earlier, which killed 29 people, both allegedly at Tehran's behest.

Iran and Velayati have denied any involvement in the attacks.

Velayati is one of five top Iranian officials who Argentine investigators say ordered the attacks, along with former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is now deceased, and former Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Commander Mohsen Rezaie.

Argentina's failure to bring any of the accused to justice in over two decades led to a longrunning scandal involving former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who negotiated a deal with Iran in 2013 that prosecutors say enabled the accused Iranians to avoid prosecution.

Fernandez and several of her aides were indicted on treason charges in December in connection with the 2013 deal, which prosecutors allege provided Iran with legal cover to escape prosecution in exchange for a normalization of relations and a grain-for-oil deal with Buenos Aires.

The agreement created a joint commission to investigate the Jewish center bombing that critics said was really a means to absolve Iran.

Fernandez has denied the charges, arguing that she made the deal because Iran and Argentina had no extradition agreement, and Argentina does not carry out trials in absentia, leaving authorities with no other way to respond to the bombings.

With reporting by AFP and Interfax</s>Russian president Vladimir Putin has announced plans for investment of up to $50 billion in Iran’s oil and gas sector, Iran’s special envoy Ali Akbar Velayati said, adding that Russian firms could replace the western oil companies that have left the Islamic Republic.

Speaking to IRIB after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin near Moscow on Thursday, Velayati said he met with Putin to convey the message of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.

Hailing the “very constructive, clear and cordial” negotiations in the meeting that took about two hours, Velayati said the two sides discussed all issues of mutual interest.

The Russian president has expressed satisfaction with the progress in the bilateral ties between Tehran and Moscow and with the implementation of the agreements achieved in his meetings with President Rouhani in recent years, he said.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei regards Iran’s relations with Russia as “strategic”, Velayati said, adding that Putin holds the same belief.

Highlighting Putin’s satisfaction with a 36-percent increase in the value of trade exchange between Iran and Russia in the first 4 months of 2018, Velayati said the Russian leader has emphasized the necessity for close cooperation with Iran in the oil industry, peaceful nuclear energy, communications and the North-South railroad corridor connecting the Russian city of St. Petersburg to Iran’s southeastern port city of Chabahar.

As regards cooperation in the energy industry, Velayati said one of Russia’s major oil companies has signed a $4-billion agreement with Iran, which will be implemented soon.

Two other large Russian oil companies, namely Rosneft and Gazprom Neft, have started negotiations with Iran to sign agreements worth up to $10 billion, he added.

Velayati also quoted Putin as hailing the oil cooperation between Iran and Russia, saying Russia has announced readiness to make investment as high as $50 billion in Iran’s oil and gas industry, and that Russian firms could replace the western companies that have left Iran.

As for cooperation in the nuclear industry, Velayati said Iran has already built a 1000-MW reactor with the help of Russia, adding that Putin was personally updated on details of construction of two other reactors Russia is building in Iran.

The two new reactors, a 100-MW and a 35-MW one, are being built along Iran’s southern coasts and will be employed to generate electricity and desalinate water, he noted.

Russia has agreed to transfer the technology of construction of small reactors for the southern coasts of Iran, Velayati added.

The Russian president also voiced satisfaction with promotion of cooperation in the railroad industry, Velayati said, pointing to Russia’s assistance for Iran in the electrification of the Incheh Borun-Garmsar railroad track.

Investment in Iran’s railroad industry could accelerate transportation of goods and lead to 40-percent saving in time and expenses when it comes to the transit of commodities from Southeast Asia, the Iranian official stated.

On regional cooperation, Velayati said Putin has emphasized that Russia and Iran will keep working together to support Syria’s legitimate government and also cooperate in Iraq to defend the territorial integrity of the two nations.

Putin underlined that Russia, Iran and Turkey will stick to the Astana process for peace in Syria, he added.

The Russian leader also denounced the US sanctions against Iran, saying such measures that are out of step with the United Nations Security Council’s decisions are unacceptable, Velayati went on to say.

He said Putin has voiced support for Iran’s rights under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and given an assurance that Moscow will stand with Tehran and defend its rights.

Iran and Russia are going to continue negotiations in various fields, Velayati underlined, saying the next round of Astana peace talks will be held in Tehran, bringing together officials from Russia, Iran and Turkey.

What has been agreed upon in general during the meeting with Putin will be discussed in details in a meeting with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, Velayati further said.

He also unveiled plans for a speech to the meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Russia in order to explicate Iran’s foreign policy.</s>BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) — An Argentine federal judge investigating the 1994 Buenos Aires AMIA Jewish center bombing has asked Russian officials to arrest a high-level Iranian adviser to the country’s supreme leader in connection with the attack.

Alí Akbar Velayati was scheduled to meet with President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday in Moscow. Velayati, who was Iran’s foreign minister at the time of the terrorist attack and has been implicated in ordering the bombing, is now an adviser on international affairs to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Velayati is among special envoys that Iran is sending to various countries in response to the U.S. withdrawal earlier this year from the 2015 nuclear deal.

“After Mr. Trump’s strategic mistake in unilaterally withdrawing, the Islamic Republic of Iran decided to send special envoys to different countries conveying the message of high officials of Iran containing our stances, positions, and approaches towards this arrogant and illegal move of the U.S.,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said in describing the Wednesday visit of Velayati to Moscow.

Following news reports of the visit, Judge Rodolfo Canicoba Corral requested the arrest of Velayati. There has been an international arrest warrant against Velayati and seven other Iranian officials since 2006. The AMIA bombing killed 85 and injured hundreds.

Iran also is believed to be behind the 1992 car bombing that destroyed the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 and injuring 242.

In 2016, ahead of another Velayati trip, Argentina made requests for his arrest to Singapore and Malaysia but was not successful.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also was expected to meet with Putin in Moscow on Wednesday.</s>ANKARA, July 12 (Reuters) - The top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday had been “very constructive and friendly” and that Moscow would invest in the Iranian oil sector.

“Our leader (Khamenei) values improving ties with Russia as a strategic partner ... This path will continue ... Russia is prepared to invest in Iran’s oil sector,” the adviser, Ali Akbar Velayati, told Iranian state television from Moscow.

“Iran and Russia will continue to cooperate in Syria,” he added. The two countries support President Bashar al-Assad’s forces in the Syrian civil war. (Writing by Parisa Hafezi Editing by Gareth Jones)</s>Russian President Vladimir Putin met Ali Akbar Velayati, a top adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Thursday in Moscow, RIA news agency reported, without providing any details.

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin met Ali Akbar Velayati, a top adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Thursday in Moscow, RIA news agency reported, without providing any details.

Velayati hailed Iran's ties with Russia on Wednesday as "strategic" and said he would deliver messages to Putin from Khamenei and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani. His visit comes as Iran braces for renewed U.S. economic sanctions.
Argentina petitions Russia to arrest former Iranian foreign minister and Ali Khamenei's advisor Ali Akbar Velayati, who is currently in Moscow for a meeting with Vladimir Putin, over his alleged role in the 1994 Jewish center bombing.