Russia says it is working on a significant cooperation agreement with Iran, a sign of growing friendship between the two nations.
"Now we are working on a treaty – probably you have heard about it, and I ask you once again not to use the formula ‘the same as the one with North Korea’ – now the work is underway on the big treaty with Iran," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a presser in Moscow on Wednesday.
Her comment referred to a comprehensive bilateral cooperation agreement that has been negotiated between the two sides for years.
In January, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said a new inter-state treaty reflecting the "unprecedented upswing" in Russia-Iran ties was being finalized.
Over the past couple of years, the two countries have strengthened their bonds of friendship.
Earlier this month, Iran’s acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said Tehran and Moscow had serious intentions of expanding cooperation in several domains.
Bagheri Kani, in an interview on the sidelines of the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meeting in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, said Iran and Russia were two neighboring countries with historical relations.
“In the past years, the relations between the two countries have increased and also the two countries share similar challenges and threats, promoting several opportunities for cooperation.”
For his part, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed Moscow’s commitment to finalize the comprehensive long-term cooperation agreement with the Islamic Republic of Iran. “Moscow is dedicated to concluding this memorandum with Tehran.”
In a press conference following the BRICS meeting, Lavrov said the draft of the agreement had been agreed upon but still had to be signed by the presidents.
He said signing the agreement would need to go through some formal protocols to be finalized.
Lavrov said the signing of this document would elevate Tehran-Moscow relations to a new stage. “As soon as the stages I mentioned are implemented in Iran, we can do this.”
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