Iran, Russia to sign partnership agreement ‘in near future’

TEHRAN, Nov. 01 (MNA) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has announced that his country will sign a strategic partnership agreement with Iran “in the near future.”

“The treaty is being prepared for signing in the near future,” Lavrov said at a Eurasian security summit in Belarus on Thursday.

“It will affirm both parties’ commitment to closer defense cooperation and collaboration for regional and global peace and security,” he added.

His remarks came as Russian President Vladimir Putin last month approved a proposal forwarded by the country’s foreign ministry for the signing of a strategic partnership agreement with Iran.

Last week, Putin invited Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to visit Russia to ink a comprehensive cooperation agreement.

Putin has called Moscow-Tehran ties a “priority” for his country.

Iran and Russia, as two close and strategic allies, have over the past years deepened their relations in various fields, despite being under heavy Western sanctions.

The countries signed a 10-year deal, dubbed the Treaty on the Basis of Mutual Relations and Principles of Cooperation between Iran and Russia, in 2001. Upon the conclusion of its period, the agreement was extended for two five-year terms, extending its expiration date until 2026.

Speaking to Putin on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia's Kazan on October 23, President Masoud Pezeshkian termed Tehran-Moscow ties as "strategic and highly beneficial" for both sides.

Hoping that the economic, political, scientific, cultural, and commercial ties between the two countries would continue to grow, he said he was looking forward to signing the comprehensive cooperation agreement during his upcoming official visit to Moscow.

He asserted that boosting cooperation between the countries would undermine the effectiveness of the sanctions and unjust actions that had been imposed on both nations.