Iran, Russia call for promotion of bilateral relations

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, met Friday on the sidelines of the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to discuss issues of mutual interest as well as regional and international developments.

During the meeting, President Rouhani said Iran is determined to expand relations with the neighboring states, adding that the political and economic relations between Tehran and Moscow have seen an upward trend over the past year.

The Iranian president stated that Iran and Russia have had good cooperation in the fields of science and technology and the process should be reinforced through further enhancement of relations in engineering and commercial fields as well as export of agricultural products.

Rouhani also called for the facilitation of commercial exchanges between the private sectors of Iran and Russia, urging the Russian side to provide more facilities for the Iranian investors.

President Putin, for his part, expressed satisfaction over the growing relations between the two neighbors and noted that Moscow will form a committee to follow up on the agreements previously achieved with Tehran.

He also pointed to some instances of Tehran-Moscow cooperation in information technology and modern sciences and underlined the need to continue bilateral ties in the energy sector and promote cultural and social interactions.

The two sides also discussed the process of nuclear negotiations between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, expressing support for the achievement of a comprehensive agreement in the talks.

Rouhani’s five-day tour of Kazakhstan and Tajikistan on top of a high-ranking diplomatic delegation was to end on Friday.