October 16, 2007 (LPAC)--On the first trip by a Russian or Soviet head of state to Iran since 1943, Vladimir Putin met today with Ayatollah Khamenei, the Spiritual Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, for bilateral talks behind closed doors. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov took part. Putin also had separate talks with Ahmadinejad, whom he invited to make a return visit to Russia.

The Russian and Iranian Presidents issued a lengthy, 23-point declaration, which made clear that they had touched on the Iranian nuclear program, currently the pretext for escalating threats against Iran by U.S. President Dick Cheney and his confederates. Putin and Ahmadinejad "pointed to the need for a speedy settlement of the situation around Iran's nuclear program by political and diplomatic means, in the framework of negotiations and dialogue, and expressed hope that a long-term, comprehensive solution may be found."

At a press conference after the Caspian summit, but before his bilateral talks with the Iranians, Putin stressed that "Russia is the only country that is helping Iran implement its peaceful nuclear programs." He expressed the intention of continuing to do so, while denying that recent delays in commissioning of the Bushehr nuclear reactor have been anything but technical. In the joint declaration, Putin and Ahmadinejad affirmed that Bushehr "will be completed on the agreed schedule," while the Non-Proliferation Treaty is respected.

Putin, and the declaration, also highlighted potential Russian-Iranian cooperation in space exploration, the aircraft industry, natural gas, hydroelectric power, banking, and transport, including upgrading the North-South International Transport Corridor.

The declaration mentions regional cooperation, including the development of cooperation in the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, where Russia is a member and Iran is an observer. Caspian Sea security and environmental questions were on the agenda, as were a whole range of international issues, including terrorism and hot-spots. Putin and Ahmadinejad enumerated their shared concerns about the deterioration of the situation in Afghanistan; the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories; threats to the sovereignty and stability of Lebanon; and Iraq and the Persian Gulf. About Iraq, they declared, "The Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran have actively advocated preserving the unity, territorial integrity, and sovereignty of Iraq, as well as an end to the foreign military presence in that country on the basis of a schedule." They expressed hope for an end to inter-confessional strife in Iraq.

There have been no new official comments from the Kremlin about the story, circulated through Interfax on the eve of Putin's trip and prominently reported around the world, that he might cancel it because of being tipped off to an assassination plot against him.