Iranian President Expresses Full Support For Putin Over Wagner Munity

Iran International Newsroom
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan September 15, 2022.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan September 15, 2022.

Following Saturday's abortive Wagner Group mutiny, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

The Iranian president expressed full support for the Russian leadership in the wake of the Wagner mutiny, going a step further than sentiments of Iran’s Foreign Ministry which had said that the Islamic Republic supports the rule of law in the Russian Federation and considers the latest developments to be an internal Russian matter.

In a phone call with his Russian counterpart on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said he is sure Russia would survive the current events.

Wagner Group led by a former Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin launched the apparent mutiny on Friday after alleging that the military had killed many of his fighters in an airstrike. The Russian Defense Ministry however denied this.

The Wagner fighters captured the city of Rostov hundreds of miles to the south before racing in convoy through the country, transporting tanks and armored trucks and smashing through barricades set up to stop them.

Fighters of Wagner private mercenary group are seen atop of a tank while being deployed near the headquarters of the Southern Military District in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24.
Fighters of Wagner private mercenary group are seen atop of a tank while being deployed near the headquarters of the Southern Military District in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia, June 24.

A deal was struck on Saturday, which spared Wagner's mercenaries from criminal prosecution in return for Prigozhin returning to base and moving to Belarus, ending the mutiny.

However, Russian state media reported Monday that Yevgeny Prigozhin is still facing charges for his armed insurrection, despite the Kremlin promising that the charges against him would be dropped.

Although Iran’s official reaction to the ‘Wagner rebellion’ was cautiously supportive of Vladimir Putin, Ali Motahari, the former deputy speaker of the parliament warned the authorities of the Islamic Republic not to continue linking the interests of the Iranian people to the interests of Russia.

He said that the authorities of the Islamic Republic should "know that Russia is not a strong party to lean on."

Former lawmaker Mahmoud Sadeghi tweeted Sunday that the Iranian authorities talk about being neutral but choose sides even in Russia's internal affairs, officially siding with Putin.

On Sunday, the former head of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Relations Committee, Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, told Didban website that following Saturday's challenge by Wagner, Putin can no longer claim to be as powerful as before.

Falahatpisheh added that "It was naturally clear that Putin cannot have a stable future." He further remarked that "we are going back to the Yeltsin period".

Referring to the historic precedent, Falahatpisheh likened Putin to the actions of the Bolsheviks in 1917, sacrificing his foreign policy for his country's domestic politics. He opined that Putin might be able to defeat or isolate Wagner forces in the short run, but in the long run, he is no longer the powerful force of before.