Qasem Soleimani meets Putin in Moscow

The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, recently met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss developments in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon, an Iranian senior official has revealed.

Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported yesterday, quoting an Iranian official who declined to be named, that Soleimani visited Russia last week for three days during which he met with President Putin and high-level security officials.

The agency said that Soleimani also discussed issues that were raised between Iran’s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Putin during the latter’s visit to Tehran on 23 November.

The commander of the Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani is known for his military support for the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

The United Nations imposed a travel ban on Soleimani in 2007, but he is believed to have led many military operations in Iraq, and Syria in violation of the ban.