Russia president to visit Iran

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Iran on Wednesday, according to a senior Iranian official.

Putin will attend a trilateral summit between Russia, Iran and Azerbaijan during his one-day visit, the official IRNA news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Ebrahim Rahimpour as saying today.

He said the Russian leader will also hold talks with Iranian officials on a nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers as well as a host of regional issues.

Struck in 2015, the nuclear deal has been facing a major challenge as US President Donald Trump has declined to re-certify the agreement, sending it to Congress to address.

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Rahimpour said the talks between Putin and Iranian officials will also tackle the Syrian conflict and planned talks between Syrian rivals at the Kazakh capital, Astana.

Russia and Iran are main backers of the Bashar Al-Assad regime, whose country fell into a civil war in 2011 after his forces violently cracked down on pro-democracy protests.