The inauguration of new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is accompanied by a surge of expectations. After eight provocative years of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, Rouhani has an edge — in the beginning, at least, he will be treated favorably.

In Russia, the inauguration was accompanied by rumors that President Vladimir Putin would visit Iran as early as a week after the inauguration. Analysts discussed in detail why and for what purpose the Russian leader would visit the Iranian president and to what extent it would be a provocation of the West. But then, the rumors were officially denied. The first meeting will actually take place in September at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Kyrgyzstan. The influential Kommersant newspaper, which was the first to report about the expected visit, continues to insist that the rumored visit had been planned, but the involved parties failed to agree on an itinerary. Putin intended to meet with his counterpart during a planned flash-trip through the Caspian states, without visiting Tehran, but the Iranian side insisted on a full-scale visit.

Head of the Moscow Center for the Study of the Modern Iran, Rajab Safarov, who is considered to be very close to the Iranian authorities, explained in one of his interview, "Had the Kremlin disclosed that Mr. Putin has specific suggestions in his portfolio, such as settling the issue of missile systems supply, developing cooperation on a peaceful nuclear program, or coordination of joint efforts on the question of reconciliation in Syria, the new president of Iran would have come to meet anywhere." Though nothing has been officially confirmed, it is clear that Moscow and Tehran have just showed off their ambitions, which is typical of both capitals. This is neither a sign of a crisis in their relations, nor of any prospects. The complicated, but unbreakable connection will remain.

Putin saw Ahmadinejad recently during the summit for the Gas Exporting Countries Forum. Before that, they had met in 2007, when the Russian president visited Tehran. At the time, many in the West interpreted the visit as a sign of a crafty anti-American intrigue, but the result proved to be quite dull — Putin repeated to Ahmadinejad everything that Western representatives told Iran, and he received nearly the same answer.