The extraordinarily warm and friendly meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran Nov. 23 dominated the front pages of Iranian newspapers. However, Khamenei also met with a number of other world leaders who were in Iran for a summit of gas exporting countries. The meetings all shared a similar topic: the United States.
In a meeting with Iraqi President Fuad Masum on Nov. 24, Khamenei warned of Iraqi disintegration at the hands of the United States. “The environment should not be such that the Americans give themselves permission to openly speak about the breakup of Iraq,” Khamenei said. He described Iraq as a “large and rich country with a thousand years of history” and warned that if disintegration happens, the smaller states will be in constant conflict.
