TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday that Tehran and Moscow must step up cooperation to isolate the United States and help stabilize the Middle East, state TV reported. 
 
 (L-R) Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev pose for a picture during a meeting in Tehran, Iran November 1, 2017. Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via REUTERS 
 
 Iran and Russia are the main allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while the United States, Turkey and most Arab states support rebel groups fighting to overthrow him. 
 
 Putin met Iranian political leaders in an effort to nurture a warming relationship strengthened since U.S. President Donald Trump threatened recently to abandon the international nuclear deal with Iran reached in 2015. 
 
 “Our cooperation can isolate America ... The failure of U.S.-backed terrorists in Syria cannot be denied but Americans continue their plots,” Khamenei told Putin, according to Iranian state television. 
 
 Since Russia’s military intervention in Syria’s war in 2015, and with stepped-up Iranian military assistance, Assad has taken back large amounts of territory from rebels as well as swathes of central and eastern Syria from Islamic State militants. 
 
 Moscow is now trying to build on that success with a new diplomatic initiative, including a congress of Syria’s rival parties it plans in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Nov. 18, though a major opposition bloc has refused to take part. 
 
 (R-L) Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev walk during a meeting in Tehran, Iran November 1, 2017. Sputnik/Alexei Druzhinin/Kremlin via REUTERS 
 
 Pragmatist Iranian President Hassan Rouhani echoed Khamenei, saying Iran and Russia together could tackle “regional terrorism” - an allusion to Sunni Muslim armed groups hostile to Iran, Assad and many other Arab states. 
 
 “Our cooperation has helped the fight against terrorism in the region ... Together we can establish regional peace and security,” Rouhani said in a televised joint press conference with Putin and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, who took part in a three-way summit in Tehran. 
 
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 The rapprochement between Iran and Russia is worrying for both Saudi Arabia, Shi’ite Muslim Tehran’s main Sunni rival for dominance in the Middle East, and the United States. Putin praised cooperation with Iran as “very productive”. 
 
 “We are managing to coordinate our positions on the Syrian issue,” Putin said. 
 
 Moscow is also an important ally for Iran in its renewed confrontation with the United States, where Trump broke ranks with major allies on Oct. 13 by de-certifying Tehran’s nuclear deal with six world powers including Washington under his predecessor Barack Obama. 
 
 Trump has called the agreement “the worst deal ever negotiated” and branded Iran a “terrorist nation” for involvement in conflicts in the Middle East. 
 
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 “We oppose any unilateral change in the multilateral nuclear deal,” Putin told Khamenei, Iranian state TV reported. 
 
 Russia has criticized Trump’s disavowal of the nuclear agreement, which has opened a 60-day window for the U.S. Congress to act to reimpose economic sanctions on Iran. These were lifted under the 2015 accord in return for Tehran curbing nuclear activity of potential use in developing an atomic bomb. 
 
 “This is a very important visit (by Putin) ... It shows the determination of Tehran and Moscow to deepen their strategic alliance ..., which will shape the future of the Middle East,” an Iranian official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. 
 
 “Both Russia and Iran are under American pressure ... Tehran has no other choice but to rely on Moscow to ease the U.S. pressure,” said the official. 
 
 Another Iranian official said Trump’s hawkish Iran policy had united the Islamic Republic’s often feuding leadership - split into hardline conservative, pragmatist and reformist factions - in alignment with Russia. 
 
 During Putin’s visit, Russian oil producer Rosneft and the National Iranian Oil Company agreed an outline deal to work on a number of “strategic” projects in Iran together worth up to $30 billion. 
 
 The deal appeared to dovetail with Putin’s strategy to reassert Russian political and economic influence in the Middle East that faded after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. ||||| Russian President Vladimir Putin steps down from his plane on his arrival to Mehrabad Airport, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017. Putin arrived in Iran for trilateral talks with Tehran and Azerbaijan.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Russian President Vladimir Putin steps down from his plane on his arrival to Mehrabad Airport, in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2017. Putin arrived in Iran for trilateral talks with Tehran and Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi) (Associated Press) 
 
 TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday strongly backed Iran and its nuclear deal with world powers, saying Moscow opposed "any unilateral change" to the accord after U.S. President Donald Trump refused to re-certify it. 
 
 Putin made the comments on a one-day trip to Tehran for trilateral talks between Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia, a meeting largely focused on improving road and rail links to the neighboring countries on the Caspian Sea. 
 
 However, the nuclear deal loomed large as Putin met with both Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who easily won re-election this year after securing the atomic deal, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters. 
 
 "We oppose any unilateral change in the multilateral nuclear deal," Putin said while meeting Khamenei, according to a statement from the supreme leader's office. "We oppose linking Iran's nuclear program with other issues including defensive issues." 
 
 Moscow has stood by Tehran while Trump has refused to re-certify the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, including Russia. The other parties to the accord — Britain, China, France, Germany and the European Union — have also urged Trump to stay in the deal. 
 
 The U.S. Congress now will make a decision regarding the 2015 nuclear deal, in which Iran agreed to limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. In recent days, lawmakers have targeted Iran with new sanctions over its ballistic missile program, which wasn't included in the deal but which American officials say violates the spirit of the accord. 
 
 Khamenei praised Putin's "strong" character. 
 
 "Because of this reason, it is possible to have logical dialogue and cooperation with Russia as a big power about big jobs that require determination and effort," the supreme leader said. 
 
 Russia and Iran have a complicated history. Many still remember how Russia, alongside Britain, invaded and occupied Iran during World War II to secure oil fields and Allied supply lines. 
 
 But while Britain withdrew, Russia refused to leave, sparking the first international rebuke by the nascent U.N. Security Council in 1946. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, Iran allowed refugees into the country and backed mujahedeen rebel fighters — as did the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. 
 
 While Gulf Arab states sought the protection of the U.S. after the 1991 Gulf War, Iran tilted toward Russia. Russia has supplied surface-to-air missiles to Iran, and helped it to build its first nuclear power plant, in the southern port city of Bushehr, which went online in 2011. The two countries are now partnering in the construction of two more nuclear reactors at the site. 
 
 Russia and Iran have both provided crucial support to President Bashar Assad's forces in the Syrian civil war, something Rouhani praised during his meeting with Putin. 
 
 "Iranian and Russian cooperation has had a great impact in fighting terrorism in the region," Rouhani said, according to a statement from his office. "The joint cooperation and consultations are very important in the final stages too." 
 
 Iran allowed Russia access to its air bases last year to bomb targets in Syria. But that struck a nerve in Iran, whose constitution bars foreign militaries from having bases in the country. 
 
 Russia has reached out to Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, promising weapons systems and other investments to the ultraconservative Sunni kingdom. That too has raised eyebrows in Shiite Iran, which is the kingdom's Mideast rival. 
 
 Prior to Putin's arrival on his third trip to Iran, Russia's armed forces chief, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, met with his Iranian counterpart, Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, and discussed defense and security issues, Iranian state television reported on Wednesday, without elaborating. 
 
 Tehran-based political analyst Saeed Leilaz said Putin's visit to Tehran could lead to more investment in the oil industry and other infrastructure projects that "may encourage European and Chinese and even American companies to enter the Iranian market." 
 
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 Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed to this report. ||||| ANKARA (Reuters) - The United States is Iran’s “number one enemy” and Tehran will never succumb to Washington’s pressure over a multinational nuclear deal, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a televised speech on Thursday. 
 
 Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves as he arrives to deliver a speech in Tehran, Iran, November 2, 2017. Leader.ir/Handout via REUTERS 
 
 U.S. President Donald Trump broke ranks with other major powers last month by refusing to formally certify Iran’s compliance with the nuclear deal. Under that deal, most sanctions on Iran were lifted in exchange for Tehran curbing its nuclear work. 
 
 “The American president’s foolish remarks against our people show the depth of America’s hostility towards the entire Iranian nation,” Iran’s top authority Khamenei told a group of students. 
 
 “America is the number one enemy of our nation.” 
 
 Since the deal was reached in 2015, Khamenei has continued to denounce the United States publicly, suggesting that antagonism between the two countries since the 1979 Islamic revolution in Tehran would not abate because of the accord. 
 
 Iran and the United States severed diplomatic ties shortly after the revolution, when hardline students took 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Iran will mark the anniversary of the American embassy seizure on Saturday. 
 
 Trump has called the nuclear agreement, which was reached under his predecessor Barack Obama, “the worst deal ever negotiated” and has adopted a harsh approach to Iran over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. 
 
 Washington has imposed new sanctions on Iran over its missile activity, calling on Tehran not to develop missiles capable of delivering nuclear bombs. Iran says it has no such plans and its missile program is solely for defense purposes. 
 
 The deal’s other signatories, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China, and the European Union say Washington cannot unilaterally cancel an international accord enshrined by a U.N. resolution. 
 
 Iranian officials have repeatedly said that Tehran would stick to the nuclear accord as long as the other signatories respected it. But it has warned about the consequences if the deal falls apart. 
 
 “We will never accept their bullying over the nuclear deal ... Americans are using all the wickedness to damage the result of the nuclear talks,” Khamenei said to chants of “Death to America” by students. 
 
 “Any retreat by Iran will make America more blatant and impudent ... Resistance is the only option.” 
 
 Trump also accuses Iran of supporting terrorism in the Middle East. Iran rejects that and in turn blames the growth of militant groups such as Islamic State on the policies of the United States and its regional allies. 
 
 Shi’ite-dominated Iran and its regional arch-rival, U.S.-backed Sunni Saudi Arabia, are involved in proxy wars across the region, backing opposite sides in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon.
– After President Trump refused to recertify Iran's compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said it was a "waste [of] time to respond to the rants and whoppers of the foul-throated president of the United States." But the country's supreme leader had more to say in response Thursday, when he declared America "the number one enemy of our nation," Reuters reports. "The American president's foolish remarks against our people show the depth of America's hostility towards the entire Iranian nation," he said in a televised speech. "We will never accept their bullying over the nuclear deal ... Americans are using all the wickedness to damage the result of the nuclear talks." The US is the only one of the signatories of the multinational nuclear deal refusing to recertify, and the UN on Sunday confirmed Iran is still adhering to the deal, which lifted most sanctions in exchange for Tehran cutting back on its development of its nuclear program. The other signatories say even withdrawal by the US—which is up to Congress—would not cancel the international accord, but Iran has warned of consequences if the deal does crumble. "Any retreat by Iran will make America more blatant and impudent," Khamenei said Thursday. "Resistance is the only option." His speech comes a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed support for the deal during a visit to Iran, the AP reports. Khamenei told Putin during that visit that Iran and Russia must work together toward Middle East stability and isolate the US, Reuters reports.