“A very important visit” — that’s how Iran’s Foreign Ministry described Ali Akbar Velayati's trip to Russia, where Velayati, the supreme leader's foreign policy adviser, was expected to deliver messages from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani to the Russian president.
It was a hectic day at the Kremlin, which also simultaneously hosted the prime minister of Israel, Iran’s sworn enemy. Benjamin Netanyahu has been pressing Moscow to curb Iranian influence in Syria and has repeatedly warned that Tel Aviv will not tolerate a permanent Iranian presence there.
