Russia says working on ‘major new deal’ with Iran

The Russian Foreign Ministry broke the news in a short statement on Tuesday and said the two countries’ foreign ministers had agreed in a phone call to expedite work on the agreement, which was at “a high stage of readiness.”

The statement did not detail the scope of the agreement, but it comes amid growing political, trade and military ties between Moscow and Tehran, both of which are under US sanctions and opposed to Western unilateralism.

In 2001, Tehran and Moscow signed a 10-year cooperation deal that was lengthened to 20 years through two five-year extensions.

The two countries are planning to ink a document on bilateral long-term strategic cooperation, which may determine their future relations for the next twenty years.

Last week, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Russian counterpart held extensive talks in the Kremlin, with Vladimir Putin lauding Tehran-Moscow ties as “very good”.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov also signed an agreement last week to make joint efforts to counter unilateral sanctions imposed on the two countries.

Iran and Russia, as two close and strategic allies, have over the past years deepened their relations in various fields, including military and defense, despite being under heavy Western sanctions.