Putin meets Khatami, calls Iran Russia’s strategic partner

UNITED NATIONS, SEPT 6: Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Khatami on Wednesday that he viewed Teheran as Moscow’s strategic partner and a key player in the Middle East. "I am happy to finally meet you. Iran is our traditional partner," a grinning Putin told Khatami at the start of their closed-door talks on the sidelines of the UN Millennium Summit. "Ties between our countries have been building for many years, many decades," Putin said.

Earlier Wednesday, in an apparent reference to his own views of US dominance in world affairs, Khatami told some 150 heads of state and government gathered for the summit that the United Nations must treat all members equally and not yield to the "quest of power." Khatami was due to have addressed the summit on Wednesday afternoon, according to the official schedule, but was switched to speak earlier while US President Bill Clinton was still in the UN General Assembly hall. "I declare before this house that nations can no longer be excluded or marginalized on political, cultural and economic pretexts," Khatami said. In his meeting with Putin, he elaborated further on that message, telling the Kremlin Chief that Iran’s alliance to Russia must only grow stronger. "We think that our cooperation with, and links in, Russia will play a large role for improving the situation in the region and the world."

Washington is upset with Russia for helping build an Iranian nuclear reactor, voicing fears that Teheran may re-direct some of those technologies and know-how to military use. The United State has also imposed sanctions on some 10 Russian institutes that stand accused of transferring military technology to Iran which can lead to the development of weapons of mass destruction. Iran for its part wants the United States to lift all sanctions against it, especially oil-related sanctions, and to release frozen Iranian assets, before it will consider normalizing relations with Washington.