Moscow-Tehran Ties Have Reached New Level, Says Russian Defense Minister

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Tehran (Reuters)
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Tehran (Reuters)
TT

Moscow-Tehran Ties Have Reached New Level, Says Russian Defense Minister

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Tehran (Reuters)
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Tehran (Reuters)

Relations between Russia and Iran have reached a new level despite opposition from much of the Western world, Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said during his visit to Teheran on Wednesday.

"We are aiming at an entire range of planned activities, despite opposition from the United States and its Western allies," the Interfax news agency cited Shoigu as saying.

Shoigu, who arrived in Tehran on Tuesday, was invited to Iran by Major General Mohammad Bagheri, who serves as the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Iran's state news agency, IRNA, reported.

“Relations between Russia and Iran are developing dynamically in the field of defense,” Shoigu said during his meeting with Bagheri.

“Today, we have an opportunity to discuss in detail topical issues of bilateral military cooperation,” the Russian minister said.

“Iran is Russia’s strategic partner in the Middle East,” he stressed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Trump Picks Massad Boulos to Serve as Adviser on Arab, Middle Eastern Affairs

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs autographs alongside Massad Boulos (The AP)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs autographs alongside Massad Boulos (The AP)
TT

Trump Picks Massad Boulos to Serve as Adviser on Arab, Middle Eastern Affairs

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs autographs alongside Massad Boulos (The AP)
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump signs autographs alongside Massad Boulos (The AP)

US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday said Lebanese American businessman Massad Boulos would serve as senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.

Trump made the announcement on Truth Social. Boulos, the father-in-law of Trump's daughter Tiffany, met repeatedly with Arab American and Muslim leaders during the election campaign, Reuters reported.

It was the second time in recent days that Trump chose the father-in-law of one of his children to serve in his administration.

On Saturday, Trump said that he had picked his son-in-law Jared Kushner's father, real estate mogul Charles Kushner, to serve as US ambassador to France.

In recent months, Boulos campaigned for Trump to drum up Lebanese and Arab American support, even as the US-backed Israel's military campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Boulos has powerful roots in both countries.

His father and grandfather were both figures in Lebanese politics and his father-in-law was a key funder of the Free Patriotic Movement, a Christian party aligned with Hezbollah.

His son Michael and Tiffany Trump were married in an elaborate ceremony at Trump's Florida Mar-a-Lago Club in November 2022, after getting engaged in the White House Rose Garden during Trump's first term.

Boulos has been in touch with interlocutors across Lebanon's multipolar political world, three sources who spoke to him in recent months say, a rare feat in Lebanon, where decades-old rivalries between factions run deep.

Boulos is a friend of Suleiman Frangieh, a Christian ally of Hezbollah and its candidate for Lebanon's presidency. He is also in touch with the Lebanese Forces Party, a vehemently anti-Hezbollah Christian faction, the sources say, and has ties to independent lawmakers.