Vladimir Putin’s visit to Tehran, the first by a Kremlin leader since World War II, is being watched closely by the international community.

The Russian president is in Iran for a summit of the five Caspian Sea nations. After the summit, he met Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He was also expected to meet the Islamic Republic’s powerful spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Putin’s trip has been surrounded by doubts over reports by the Kremlin that there was a plot to assassinate the Russian president in Tehran. Some media outlets even reported that Putin might cancel his trip, and bow to Western pressure not to go to Iran.

But the Iranians and the Russian president dismissed the claims. "If I listened to what the security services said, I would never leave my home,” Putin told reporters on Monday.

According to a BBC editorial, the Iranians would like to believe that Putin’s visit would be as historic as the summit held in Tehran between Churchill and Franklin D Roosevelt there in 1943.

"The mere fact of Putin's presence on Iranian soil is evidence that the West's policy of isolation is a failure and can be interpreted as a victory of Iranian diplomacy," the newspaper Iran News declared at the weekend.

Such beliefs have been bolstered after the leaders of the five states bordering the Caspian Sea - Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan - signed a declaration agreeing to never allow their territory to be used for an attack on another littoral state. "The parties emphasize that in no circumstances will they allow their territory to be used by a third country to commit aggression or other military action against one of the parties," AFP news agency quoted the text as saying.

The declaration was a clear reference to long-standing rumors that the U.S. is planning to use Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic, as a staging ground for any possible military action against Iran.

Despite signs of improved ties between Russia and Iran, both countries have an uneasy relationship that’s hard to interpret. Although Moscow and Tehran have shared interests, each side fears that it could be used by the other.

"From the Iranian side I want to say that we want to work with Russia as a big power, as a neighbor, and as a country with some technologies that Iran needs," explained Abbas Maleki, chairman of the International Institute for Caspian Studies in Tehran.

"But at the same time Iran doesn't trust Russia as a country that can defend Iranian national interests."

Tuesday’s visit is more intriguing in the light of President Putin’s deteriorating ties with the West. Some analysts predict that he could use the “Iranian card” and take Tehran’s side in the dispute over its nuclear program.

Russia, which is building Iran’s first nuclear plant, has been blocking any new UN sanctions against Tehran, who the United States accuses of seeking an atomic bomb, despite the Iranians’ insistence that their nuclear program is strictly peaceful. Moscow repeatedly warned Washington against using force against the Islamic Republic.

"It is futile to frighten Iran and its people - they are not scared," Putin said on Monday after his trip to Germany where he met Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Russian president also underlined his disagreements with Washington last week during a visit to France, where he said that he saw no "objective data" to prove Western claims that Iran is trying to construct nuclear weapons.

But President Putin is also frustrated with President Ahmadinejad, because of his rejection of Russia's offer to help supply Iran's nuclear fuel. Moscow also urges Tehran to cooperate more with the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, which recently reached a deal with Iran to clear up any outstanding issues before December.

As well as wanting to secure diplomatic support in preventing more UN sanctions, the Iranians want to ensure continued Russian technical assistance. They hope that Putin would confirm that Moscow would complete the Bushehr nuclear plant being built by Russian engineers.

Russia has postponed the launch of Bushehr, claiming that Tehran was slow in making payments. It has also delayed the shipment of uranium fuel for the reactor.

On the other hand, Tehran suspects Moscow is dragging its feet for political reasons.

But Putin’s visit gave the Iranians hope that the $1 billion
project could be finished next year. On Monday, the Iranian foreign ministry said there would be "good news" over Bushehr in the coming hours.

Despite the Iranians’ optimism, it’s hard to predict the outcome of Putin’s visit because it isn’t clear how much support the Russians are willing to give the Iranians in their showdown with the West.

However, analysts say that Putin’s trip is important even if it yielded no agreements.

"Iran can use the visit to lobby for getting our nuclear dossier out of the UN Security Council and Russia can strengthen its opposition to the U.S. through boosting ties with Tehran," Iran’s daily newspaper Resalat said in an editorial Monday.

Source:Aljazeera.com