Iran determined to further deepen strategic ties with Russia: Interim FM

Iran’s interim Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani says the country is determined to expand its strategic relations with Russia.

Bagheri Kani made the remarks in Moscow on Monday in a meeting with Igor Levitin, who serves as a senior aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He said that late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi who died in a helicopter crash last month along with Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian both had emphasized the need for Iran to have deep relations with Russia.

The top diplomat said that efforts to complete a joint Iranian-Russian project to build a railway between cities of Rasht and Astara in northern Iran must be accelerated to enable the two countries to benefit from increased transit of cargo on the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC).

“We will use all our potentials for the implementation of the strategic projects between the two countries that could serve their high interests,” said Bagheri.

Levitin, for his part, renewed his condolences on the martyrdom of Iranian president and foreign minister while reiterating that top Russian authorities will honor agreements signed between leaders of the two countries in recent years.

He said he will pay a visit to Iran in the near future to supervise joint projects, adding that Russia plans to link the INSTC with other transit corridors in the region to boost transportation cooperation between Moscow and Tehran.

Bagheri was in Russia to attend a ministerial meeting of the BRICS grouping of developing economies.

He held other meetings with top diplomats from Russia, China, Brazil and Belarus on the sidelines of the event.

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