MOSCOW: A senior ally of President Vladimir Putin arrived in Tehran on Monday for talks with Iranian leaders including the president and top security officials as the Islamic Republic weighs its response to the killing of a Hamas leader.

Russia has condemned the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, leader of Hamas, in Iran last week and called on all parties to refrain from steps that could tip the Middle East into a wider regional war.

Sergei Shoigu, the secretary of Russia’s security council, was shown by Russia’s Zvezda television station meeting Rear Admiral Ali Akbar Ahmadian, a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander who serves as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council.

Shoigu, who was Russia’s defence minister before being moved to the security council in May, will also meet President Masoud Pezeshkian, Zvezda said.

“In Tehran, the secretary of the Russian Security Council is scheduled to meet with the president, the secretary of the Supreme National Security

Council and the head of the General Staff,“ according to Zvezda TV.

Though Putin has yet to comment in public on the recent escalation of tensions in the Middle East, senior Russian officials have said that those behind the killing of Haniyeh were seeking to scuttle any hope of peace in the Middle East and to draw the United States into military action.

Iran has blamed Israel and said it will “punish” it; Israeli officials have not claimed respon­­sibility.

Russia has cultivated closer ties with Iran since the start of its war with Ukraine and has said it is preparing to sign a wide-ranging cooperation agreement with the Islamic State group.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2024