On his first trip to Iran in eight years, Putin, accompanied by his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, went straight into a meeting with Khamenei, the Islamic republic's ultimate authority. Describing the 90-minute encounter as "quite constructive" and longer than planned, a Kremlin spokesman said the two countries had "unity of views" on Syria.
Russia and Iran are against "external attempts to dictate scenarios of political settlement" in the conflict-wracked state, and only Syria's people could decide to dump Assad in elections following a cease-fire. Khamenei said the US had a "long-term plan" to dominate Syria and the Middle East which would "disadvantage all countries, especially Iran and Russia".
"This threat should be neutralised wisely and with closer interaction," he was quoted as saying in a statement. Putin and Khamenei met before the Russian leader headed to a major summit of gas exporting countries in the Iranian capital. Iran and Russia have become increasingly allied in Syria providing support that has propped up Assad's government and forces since an uprising erupted in 2011.
What began as a conflict between Assad's army and Western- and Gulf-backed rebels has since spiralled into a multi-faceted war that has killed more than 250,000. Attention is currently focused on stopping Islamic State group jihadists, who last year seized large parts of Syria before surging into Iraq. The threat from IS has taken on new potency and spread into Europe since the jihadists committed co-ordinated gun and bomb attacks in Paris on November 13, killing 130 people.
For Russia, defending Assad and confronting IS has become more important since the militants blew up a Russian airliner over Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on October 31, killing all 224 on board. Russia had one month earlier launched a wave of air strikes in support of Assad, whose Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, has close ties to Iran, the region's main Shiite power. Both Iran and Russia, which has a major sea port base in Syria, are seeking to limit US leverage in the Middle East. This shared goal has seen Iran send commanders from its elite Revolutionary Guards to support and advise Assad's forces, with Tehran co-ordinating a collection of Shiite militias on the ground.