Russia and Iran bolster partnership amid fast-changing geopolitical situation

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<strong>The foreign ministers of Russia and Iran will "synchronize their watches" on a number of topical issues, including Afghanistan and Tehran’s nuclear deal, when they hold talks in Moscow tomorrow.<br />
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The outcome of the meeting between Sergey Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart Amir Abdollahian will be followed keenly by Washington as the Russian-Iranian relations continue to actively develop and the "intensity of the political dialogue" continues after the victory of Ebrahim Raisi in the presidential elections in Iran.</p>
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Both Putin and Raisi have already spoken over phone twice on August 18 and September 14, to reaffirm their commitment to strengthen "mutually beneficial" Russian-Iranian relations in various fields.<br />
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"The positions of Russia and Iran on many international issues are close or coincide. The ministers will pay special attention to the situation around the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program. The only way out of this situation is the earliest possible resumption of the negotiation process to restore the full-fledged functioning of the nuclear deal," said the Russian Foreign Ministry.<br />
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It added that the state of affairs in Afghanistan will be "substantively discussed" in the context of the fundamental importance of an effective response to emerging challenges, including the relief of terrorist and drug threats, as well as international assistance to the post-conflict reconstruction of the country.<br />
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"On the Syrian settlement, the principled position of Moscow and Tehran is to support unconditional respect for the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of the SAR , the legal right of the Syrians to independently determine the future of their country. Effective interaction within the Astana format will continue," the statement mentioned.<br />
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During the dialogue, both ministers will also have other topics of regional agenda to discuss, including the situation in the Caspian Sea, in the Transcaucasus, in the Persian Gulf zone, Yemen , Lebanon and the Middle East settlement.<br />
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Russia said that it supports the decision to start the procedure for admitting Iran to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), made during the recent summit in Dushanbe. Moscow reiterated that it has always advocated the full-fledged participation of Iran, which will help to increase the international authority of the organisation.<br />
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Intensive bilateral contacts have been maintained at various levels between both the countries, including through the foreign affairs, parliaments, and other state structures and organisations.<br />
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On October 1, another round of Russian-Iranian interagency consultations on international information security (IIB) had taken place in Moscow.<br />
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Reza Najafi, the acting Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Law and International Affairs, who is also the Director General of the General Directorate of the Iranian Foreign Ministry for Peace and International Security, held discussions with Andrei Kroteskikh, the Russian president’s special envoy for international cooperation in information security.<br />
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Both top officials exchanged views on the strategic approaches of Russia and Iran in the area of cyber issues based on the Russian-Iranian intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the field of information security signed earlier this year.<br />
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Moscow and Tehran also continue to expand cooperation in the field of countering the spread of Covid-19.<br />
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While the deliveries of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V to Iran continues, the Iranian authorities have also approved the use of the Sputnik Light single-component vaccine in the country, which will accelerate the vaccination of the population and form population immunity.<br />
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"We intend to further expand mutually beneficial ties with Iran and continue cooperation in the interests of regional stability and international security. We count on the strengthening of positive trends in all spheres of Russian-Iranian cooperation," says the Russian MFA.</p>
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