AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA):\u00a0<\/b>Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei describes the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as \u201cdangerous,\u201d saying that the US-led military alliance knows no boundaries and had to be stopped in Ukraine or it would have waged war using Crimea as a pretext.<\/p>\n
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Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who arrived in Tehran earlier on Tuesday to take part in a three-way summit with Iranian and Turkish presidents Ebrahim Raeisi and Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the Syria peace process.<\/p>\n
\u201cWar is a harsh and difficult reality, and the Islamic Republic will in no way be happy if it entangles ordinary people,\u201d the Leader said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the case of Ukraine, however, if you had not taken the initiative, the opposite side would have caused [the outbreak] of war with its own initiative,\u201d the Leader added, addressing the Russian president.<\/p>\n
Ayatollah Khamenei stated that Western countries resolutely oppose a strong and independent Russia, adding that if NATO had not been stopped in Ukraine, it would have started the same war using Crimea as a pretext.<\/p>\n
The Leader said the US and West have become weaker than before, adding that despite great efforts and spending, \u201ctheir policies in regional countries, including Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine, are being less effective.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Leader said Iran and Russia must maintain their vigilance in the face of the West\u2019s deceptive policies.<\/p>\n
Ayatollah Khamenei also emphasized that economic cooperation between Tehran and Moscow is a necessity and will serve the two sides\u2019 interests, particularly in the wake of the West\u2019s sanctions against them. \u201cLong-term cooperation between Iran and Russia will be deeply beneficial to both countries.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Leader said it was paramount that the oil and gas agreements currently in the works between the two energy-rich countries are \u201cfollowed through to the end and become operational.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Leader also stressed the importance of launching Rasht-Astara railway in an effort to complete the North-South Transport Corridor and benefit both countries.<\/p>\n
Ayatollah Khamenei voiced support for the policy of replacing the US dollar with national currencies in bilateral trade ties, saying, \u201cThe dollar should be gradually removed from global transactions.\u201d<\/p>\n
For his part, the Russian president addressed the situation in Ukraine, saying, \u201cNo one is in favor of war,\u201d adding, \u201cThe loss of ordinary people\u2019s lives is a great tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, the West\u2019s behavior has left us with no other option than to react,\u201d the Russian head of state said.<\/p>\n
Putin considered his country\u2019s rifts with Ukraine to be rooted especially in the provocative measures that have been taken by the West, including the United States, over the past recent years, including the coup in Ukraine, which brought a Western-backed government to power there.<\/p>\n
He also cited NATO\u2019s expansion toward Russia\u2019s borders in spite of its earlier promises to avoid such a move to be another source of difference between Moscow and Kiev.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome European countries said they were opposed to Ukraine\u2019s membership in NATO, but [eventually] acceded to it under America\u2019s pressure,\u201d Putin said, adding that this indicated the countries\u2019 \u201clack of sovereignty and independence.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Russian statesman considered the US\u2019s assassination of Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in early 2020 to be another instance of Washington\u2019s \u201ciniquity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsewhere in his remarks, Putin said the West\u2019s sanctions against Russia were to its own detriment, causing such problems as rising oil prices and food crises.<\/p>\n
He pointed to the United States\u2019 use of dollar towards deployment of sanctions against and plundering of other countries.<\/p>\n
The approach would eventually backfire against Washington itself since it undermines the global trust in the currency, and prompt countries to use alternative currencies. \u201cRussia and Iran [for instance] are devising new methods of using their respective national currencies in their relations,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Putin considered his country and Iran\u2019s position concerning Syria, including their opposition to a military attack against the northern parts, to be completely concordant. \u201cThe Eastern Euphrates region should come under the control of Syrian military forces,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Iran and Russia are fighting a joint fight against terrorism in Syria, the Russian president also noted, adding that in the military sphere too the countries would try to increase their cooperation and also try to increase their cooperation and trilateral military drills with China.<\/p>\n