Russia and Iran are constantly in contact over various aspects of the international agenda, including issues related to Iran’s nuclear program, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.
Putin met on Monday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in China.
The Kremlin said on Telegram that the two presidents will start a bilateral meeting. It attached the post with a video of the two men shaking hands, according to Reuters.
Later, Russia’s TASS news agency said Putin has asked his Iranian counterpart to convey his greetings and best wishes to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
“I am glad to meet you again. Before we begin our conversation, I would like to ask you to convey my greetings and best wished to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mr. Khamenei,” Putin said.
The Russian president noted the special character of the comprehensive Russian-Iranian ties and recalled that the countries had signed a new interstate treaty raising their relations to a new level during the Iranian president’s visit to Russia in January.
In return, Pezeshkian considered the activation of the 25-year cooperation treaty as paving the way for increased ties and expanded cooperation between the two sides.
“Of course, the Free Trade Agreement between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union gives a strong additional boost to our relations, and we wholeheartedly welcome it,” he said.
“I personally oversee the implementation of the agreements reached between our countries and will make every effort to remove any obstacles along this path,” the President added.
Pezeshkian then criticized the efforts of the United States and its allies to reinforce “unilateralism.”
He pointed to discussions at the SCO summit, emphasizing that such international bodies provide a suitable platform for promoting multilateralism.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Tehran and Moscow have deepened their bilateral ties and have formalized a strategic partnership, especially at the military level.
In return, Western countries and Kyiv have accused Iran of supplying Shahed kamikaze drones to Russia.
The Kremlin earlier said that Putin will discuss Tehran's nuclear program with his Iranian counterpart in China, a meeting that comes as Iran faces fresh Western pressure.
Last week, Britain, France and Germany have moved to reimpose sanctions on Iran, saying the country is failing to comply with a 2015 nuclear deal.
Moscow on Friday backed its key ally, warning that the reimposition of sanctions risked “irreparable consequences.”
“We strongly urge them to reconsider and review their erroneous decisions before they lead to irreparable consequences and further tragedy,” Russia's foreign ministry said in a statement.
In a related development, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told Iranian counterpart on Monday that he believes it was useful for Tehran to continue nuclear negotiations and that Ankara would maintain its support for Iran on the matter, Türkiye’s presidency said.
In a meeting on the sidelines of a summit of the SCO in China, Erdogan also said that cooperation between the neighbors, namely in energy, was to the benefit of both sides, the presidency said in a statement.
On Monday, the SCO warned against reinterpretation of a United Nations resolution endorsing a 2015 Iran nuclear deal, after European powers triggered a mechanism to reimpose UN sanctions on Tehran.
The SCO member states reaffirmed the “binding nature” of the resolution, saying “any attempts to misinterpret or arbitrarily reinterpret this resolution will undermine the authority of the Security Council,” according to the final declaration of their summit in Tianjin.
