In a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia sincerely and honestly and unconditionally respects Iran’s territorial integrity, and this is Moscow’s unchangeable position.
During the telephone talk on Tuesday night, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Lavrov discussed the developments in the South Caucasus, the latest state of cooperation and bilateral relations, and some regional and international issues.
Referring to the current developments in the Caucasus region, the top Iranian diplomat welcomed the process of negotiations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia to reach a lasting peace agreement and emphasized the support of the Islamic Republic of Iran to stabilize peace and stability in the region.
The Russian foreign minister, for his part, congratulated the Islamic Republic of Iran for signing the free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union, calling it a very important step in the development of economic relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia and the member countries of this union.
He also pointed to the cooperation of the two countries in the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway, and considering that Moscow has completed all internal formalities for the implementation of this agreement, he emphasized his country’s determination to speed up the implementation of this cooperation development plan between the two countries.
In this telephone conversation, the parties emphasized respecting each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
This is not the first time Russia has vowed respect for Iran’s territorial integrity since December 20, when the final statement of the 6th Arab-Russian Cooperation Forum, which was held in Morocco, reiterated the UAE’s baseless claims about the three Iranian islands of Abu Musa, the Greater Tunb, and the Lesser Tunb.
On Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian chargé d’affaires to Tehran in protest at the statement, conveying the Islamic Republic’s “strong protest” in writing to the Russian envoy over Moscow’s repeated support for the “groundless claims” that were included in the statement.
The three Persian Gulf islands have historically been part of Iran, the proof of which can be found in and corroborated by countless historical, legal, and geographical documents in Iran and other parts of the world. The UAE, however, has repeatedly laid claim to the islands.
The islands fell under British control in 1921, but on November 30, 1971, a day after British forces left the region and just two days before the UAE was to become an official federation, Iran’s sovereignty over the islands was restored.
MP/IRN
