Tehran-Moscow talks focus on expansion of ties

By Azernews

By Gunay Hasanova

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia-Pacific Affairs Ebrahim Rahimpour and his Russian counterpart Igor Margulov on November 28 discussed the expansion of Tehran-Moscow ties and regional issues, IRNA reported.

The talks focused on agreements reached between Iranian and Russian leaders and senior officials and timetable for meetings in the framework of foreign ministry cooperation protocol until 2018.

They also touched on the prospect of ties, while insisting the key role of commercial cooperation.

The Iranian and Russian official confirmed that both Tehran and Moscow are willing to develop cooperation in all domains.

Iran's Ambassador to Moscow Mehdi Sanaie also participated in the meeting.

Tehran will host the next Russian-Iranian intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation on December 13.

Iran is willing to sign new agreements with Russian energy companies by mid-December. The Russian Energy Ministry expects detailed discussions of oil and gas cooperation with Iran at next month's intergovernmental commission, Deputy Minister of Energy Kirill Molodtsov said earlier.

The MOU was signed by Alexey Tsydenov, the deputy minister of transport of the Russian Federation, and Mehrdad Taqizadeh, the Iranian deputy transport minister, on the sidelines of the eighth Iran-Russia Joint Transportation Committee meeting in Tehran.

The trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $1.5 billion in July, while the figure is expected to double by March 2017.