Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent trip to Tehran, during which he met Iranian leader Ebrahim Raisi and Turkish President Recep Erdogan, was largely ignored by western media. But news outlets in Russia, Turkey and Iran itself gave the meeting front-page prominence.
Officially, the tripartite summit took place as part of the “Astana Process,” initiated in 2017 as an alternative to faltering UN efforts aimed at bringing peace to Syria. Neither forum managed to resolve the differences between Bahsar Al-Assad and the various rebel groups fighting to overturn his regime.
