Russian President Vladimir Putin has highlighted his country’s willingness for promotion of mutual cooperation with Iran, calling for further expansion of bilateral relations between Moscow and Tehran in various spheres.
During a meeting with Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf on the sidelines of the 10th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in St. Petersburg on Thursday, Putin emphasized that cooperation between the two countries will continue to grow.
The Russian leader expressed satisfaction over Iran’s accession to the BRICS group of emerging economies, stating that his country had supported the Islamic Republic’s membership.
Iran officially became a member of the BRICS at the beginning of this year, five months after it announced its acceptance as full member into the group along with Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
BRICS was formed by and initially consisted of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, which collectively represent around 40% of the global population and a quarter of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP).
Iran was among dozens of countries that sought membership in BRICS and had submitted a formal application to join the body.
Putin also hailed growing relations between Moscow and Tehran, stressing that their mutual cooperation will continue to develop under the upcoming Iranian administration led by president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian.
“Presidential elections were held in your country. I am hopeful and have no doubt that relations between Iran and the Russian Federation will be developing”, Putin said, adding that the two sides will be boosting their ties as they did so under late Iranian president Ebrahim Raeisi.
He also said that chairman of Russia’s State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin will head a delegation to Iran to take part in Pezeshkian’s swearing-in ceremony, which is set to take place on July 30.
Earlier, Qalibaf had a meeting with Volodin and two sides exchanged viewpoints on a host of issues regarding mutual ties as well as regional and international developments.