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Lavrov: Russia's 'Comprehensive' Treaty with Iran will Include Defense

FILE PHOTO: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a meeting in Moscow, Russia October 28, 2024. Alexander Nemenov/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a meeting in Moscow, Russia October 28, 2024. Alexander Nemenov/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
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Lavrov: Russia's 'Comprehensive' Treaty with Iran will Include Defense

FILE PHOTO: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a meeting in Moscow, Russia October 28, 2024. Alexander Nemenov/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a meeting in Moscow, Russia October 28, 2024. Alexander Nemenov/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

A treaty that Russia and Iran intend to sign shortly will include closer defense cooperation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday.
Military ties between the two countries are a source of deep concern to the West as Russia wages war in Ukraine while Iran and Israel have exchanged missile and air strikes in the Middle East.
"The treaty on a comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and Iran that is being prepared will become a serious factor in strengthening Russian-Iranian relations," Lavrov told state television.
According to Reuters, he said that the agreement was being prepared for signing "in the near future". Russia has said it expects Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian to visit Moscow before the end of the year.
"It will confirm the parties' desire for closer cooperation in the field of defense and interaction in the interests of peace and security at the regional and global levels," Lavrov said. He did not specify what form the defense ties would take.
Russia has deepened its ties with Iran and North Korea, which are both strongly antagonistic towards the United States, since the start of its war with Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed a similarly titled "comprehensive" treaty in June, including a mutual defense clause, and the US and NATO say Pyongyang has sent some 10,000 soldiers to Russia for possible deployment in the war.
Russia has not denied their presence, and says it will implement the treaty as it sees fit.
The United States accused Tehran in September of delivering close-range ballistic missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine, and imposed sanctions on ships and companies it said were involved in delivering Iranian weapons.
Tehran denies providing Moscow with the missiles or with thousands of drones that Kyiv and Western officials have said Russia uses against military targets and to destroy civilian infrastructure, including Ukraine’s electrical grid.
The Kremlin declined to confirm its receipt of Iranian missiles but acknowledged that its cooperation with Iran included "the most sensitive areas".

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Taiwan Shuts Down as Strong Typhoon Kong-Rey Hits, One Dead

This Himawari satellite handout image from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) website in collaboration with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NOAA/NESDIS) and Colorado State University-CIRA (CSU/CIRA) taken and released on October 31, 2024 shows typhoon Kong-rey developing over the Pacific as it approaches Taiwan (center L). (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)
This Himawari satellite handout image from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) website in collaboration with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NOAA/NESDIS) and Colorado State University-CIRA (CSU/CIRA) taken and released on October 31, 2024 shows typhoon Kong-rey developing over the Pacific as it approaches Taiwan (center L). (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)
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Taiwan Shuts Down as Strong Typhoon Kong-Rey Hits, One Dead

This Himawari satellite handout image from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) website in collaboration with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NOAA/NESDIS) and Colorado State University-CIRA (CSU/CIRA) taken and released on October 31, 2024 shows typhoon Kong-rey developing over the Pacific as it approaches Taiwan (center L). (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)
This Himawari satellite handout image from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) website in collaboration with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NOAA/NESDIS) and Colorado State University-CIRA (CSU/CIRA) taken and released on October 31, 2024 shows typhoon Kong-rey developing over the Pacific as it approaches Taiwan (center L). (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)

A strong Typhoon Kong-rey made landfall on Taiwan's east coast on Thursday, the largest storm by size to hit the island in nearly 30 years, closing financial markets, causing hundreds of flights to be cancelled and reducing rail services.
The typhoon knocked out power to nearly half a million households, the government said.
The storm hit the mountainous and sparsely populated east coast county of Taitung, according to Taiwan's Central Weather Administration, with strong winds and torrential rain affecting almost all the island.
The fire department reported one person had died when their truck hit a fallen tree in central Taiwan.
At one point a super typhoon, Kong-rey slightly weakened overnight but remained powerful as the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane packing gusts of more than 250 kph (155 mph), according to Tropical Storm Risk.
Taiwan's weather administration put the typhoon's size at the biggest to hit the island since 1996.
"I hope that everyone in the country will co-operate in avoiding disaster and refraining from engaging in dangerous behaviour such as wave watching during the typhoon," President Lai Ching-te wrote on his Facebook page.
Administration forecaster Gene Huang said after hitting the east coast it would head towards the Taiwan Strait as a much weakened storm and urged people across the island to stay at home due to the danger of high winds.
Environmental officials were working on Thursday to prevent oil leaking from a Chinese cargo ship beached against rocks on Taiwan's northern coast after losing power in turbulent weather.
Warnings for destructive winds of more than 160 kph (100 mph) were issued in Taitung, whose outlying Lanyu island recorded gusts above 260 kph (162 mph) before some of the wind-barometers there went offline.
"It was terrifying last night. Many people on the island didn't sleep, worrying about something happening to their house," Sinan Rapongan, a government official on Lanyu, also known as Orchid Island, told Reuters.
Some roofs had been damaged and more than 1,300 homes had lost power but so far no injuries had been reported, she added.
Parts of eastern Taiwan recorded one meter (3.3 feet) of rainfall since the typhoon began approaching on Wednesday.
The defense ministry has put 36,000 troops on standby to help with rescue efforts, while almost 10,000 people have been evacuated from high risk areas ahead of time, the government said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world's largest contract chipmaker and major supplier to companies like Apple and Nvidia, said it has activated routine typhoon alert preparation procedures at all its factories and construction sites.
"We do not expect significant impact to our operations," it said in an emailed statement.
Taiwan's transport ministry said 314 international flights had been cancelled, along with all domestic flights.
Taiwan's high speed railway, which connects major cities on its populated western plains, continued to operate with a much reduced service.
Kong-rey is forecast to graze China along the coast of Fujian province on Friday morning. China's financial hub Shanghai is bracing for potentially the worst rains in more than 40 years.
Subtropical Taiwan is frequently hit by typhoons. The last one, Typhoon Krathon, killed four people earlier this month as it passed through the south of the island.