Ahmadinejad goes to Russia amid protests

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-16 13:59

YEKATERINBURG, Russia - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Russia on Tuesday to attend an international meeting despite violent anti-government protests in Tehran, a Reuters reporter said.

Ahmadinejad arrived in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg for a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) of Central Asian powers, where Iran has observer status.

Special Coverage  SCO&BRIC Summits Related readings:  Hu arrives in Russia for SCO summit, BRIC meeting  Tajik FM says security, economy two pillars of SCO  BRIC gets increasing recognition: Researcher  Commentary: BRIC summit set to promote co-op  Russia shows its political clout by hosting Bric summit

In the past three days, the Iranian capital has been gripped by the biggest and most violent anti-government protests since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

The demonstrators say that last Friday's presidential election was rigged to secure victory for the hardline Ahmadinejad over the moderate opposition.

He was supposed to have arrived in Yekaterinburg on Monday.

State-run Iranian TV, monitored by the British Broadcasting Corporation, said that before his departure Ahmadinejad said he would discuss bilateral relations with various leaders at the summit as well as current global issues and a changing world situation. The report did not elaborate.

SCO Member States

	Kazakhstan
	China
	Kyrgyzstan
	Russia
	Tajikistan
	Uzbekistan

SCO Observer States

	India
	Iran
	Mongolia
	Pakistan

BRICs

	Brazil
	Russia
	India
	China

Related Coverage

• Official Website of 2009 SCO Summit
• Yakaterinburg, Russia
• Shanghai Cooperation Organization
• Hu Visits Five Nations
• Hu at G20 and APEC