According to TASS, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was the first Iranian leader to be invited to a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State, which took place on October 9 in Turkmenistan, he said, adding that the Russian side was “among the first to support this proposal from the Turkmen side” and highly valued the Iranian leader’s participation in the summit of the Commonwealth nations.
“The idea of creating the CIS + 1 format voiced by Pezeshkian has sparked significant interest in Moscow, as far as we can tell, in the capitals of other Commonwealth states, as well as within the expert community. The Russian side is prepared to work on this initiative with its partners,” Pankin said.
Russia holds the view that “the expansion of cooperation between the CIS and Iran has enormous potential across a wide range of areas,” he noted.
That said, it is “premature” to talk about expanding the organization’s membership, Pankin said. “We operate on the premise that the existing mechanisms within the CIS for involving third countries in the Commonwealth’s activities, including the CIS+ format, currently provide sufficient opportunities for establishing cooperation and implementing joint projects,” he concluded.
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