Khamenei looks at a copy of the Holy Qur’an gifted to him by Putin during their meeting in Tehran yesterday (Reuters)

The Kremlin announced that the Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iran’s Supreme Guide Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s views on the situation in Syria were the same during their meeting which continued for more than an hour and a half in Tehran. The Spokesman for the Kremlin Dmitry Peskov explained that Putin and Khamenei have both totally rejected “any external attempt to dictate scenarios of political settlements” regarding the strife in Syria.

Putin made his first visit in 8 years to Tehran yesterday and he was immediately taken to the residence of Ayatollah Ali in Tehran upon his arrival where he presented the Ayatollah with one of the oldest hand written copies of the Holy Qur’an. The purpose of the Russian president’s visit was to discuss the Syrian crisis with the Iranian leader and to attend the Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit.

During their meeting, Khamenei talked to Putin and said that “in the long term the Americans plan to control Syria and after that to dominate the region” and that this “forms a threat, especially to Russia and Iran”.

Around 20 countries attended the Vienna talks in mid-November including Russia, the United States and Iran. They gave themselves an ambitious goal to conduct peace talks before the beginning of January, however they remain divided about the fate of the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

According to footage broadcasted by the Russian channel Russia-24 which was reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP), Putin said at the meeting that “No one from outside is able to impose upon the Syrian people any sort of rule for their country or say who should take over its leadership. Only the Syrian people will decide that”.

Elsewhere, Putin will meet the Jordanian monarch King Abdullah II today in Sochi, southern Russia. Jordanian sources say that the talks between King Abdullah II and President Putin will discuss the international effort to combat terrorism in addition to the latest developments in the region, especially with regards to Syria.

King Abdullah II said earlier on in the month that “the reality of the Russian presence on the ground in Syria is a fact and we must all cooperate with it. Regrettably, we still see the Cold War mentality, and we must overcome this reality so that we are able to resist the new challenge represented in this Third World War against terrorism”.