Iran Unrest Scuppers Diplomacy

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose re-election to the presidency is being hotly contested in Iran, will not be traveling to Yekaterinburg to meet with Dmitry Medvedev today on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, according to the Iranian Embassy in Moscow. 

The leaders were due to meet to discuss Iran’s nuclear program amid last week’s rumors that Russia could change its stance on economic sanctions against Iran, but current political turbulence is preventing Ahmadinejad from performing his diplomatic duties. 

Russia was due to be Ahmadinejad’s first scheduled foreign destination following the elections.