Opinion | Putin and Khamenei's dream: to join China in an alliance against the West Israel today

In the two and a half years since the outbreak of the corona plague, the name of Russian President Vladimir Putin has come a long way as someone who takes extremely strict precautions to avoid contracting the virus.

Aside from long stays in bunkers on the outskirts of Moscow and the Ural Mountains, and ridiculously long tables that separated him and his interlocutors, Russia’s leader has completely refrained from traveling abroad.

Last month he did visit Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, two former Soviet republics categorized as "close overseas", but that lone visit was just an appetizer to the main course - Putin's trip to Iran.

Of course, it could be argued that after the invasion of Ukraine, only a few capital cities in the world were happy to welcome someone who was perceived as the great and cruel aggressor of the 21st century.

The choice of Tehran as the destination for a first diplomatic visit after a long hiatus is indeed influenced by the diplomatic isolation that Russia is experiencing following its bloody war in Ukraine.

Still, it is not that Putin made his way to ayatollahs with only a choice.

The visit to Iran marks the aspiration of the two outcast countries - Iran and Russia - to set up an effective anti-Western camp, which will help each of them overcome the ravages of sanctions.

To this camp they will want to add more players, especially those who can give and not just take.

Assad's Syria, for example, is ready to join at any time, but what else can it contribute?

In contrast, China's joining the united front of Russia and Iran vis - à - vis the US and the West is a wet dream of Moscow and Tehran, except that the Chinese do not intend to serve others.

Meanwhile, both sides of the Russian-Iranian axis are looking for synergy, both symbolically and on a practical level.

Putin's demonstrative visit to Iran - during which he also met with the real ruler, Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei, and not just with the head of state on paper, President Ibrahim Raisi - was intended to re-legitimize the regime.

This, after only last week, during the visit of US President Biden to the Middle East, the regime was described by most countries in the region as a real danger to world peace.

In addition to stroking the Iranians, Putin is signaling to Iran-threatened countries that their choice of the US could come at a price in the form of Russian support for Iran. If there is a reaction in the deeds.

The Iranians have already boasted that they can teach the Russians to circumvent the economic sanctions.

The apparent cooperation between Moscow and Tehran in the fields of oil and gas, and certainly in the military field, will prevent sleep from the eyes of the captains in Israel - the exile alliance could be a dangerous thing.

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