Putin: Ties with Iran ‘high priority’ for Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that relations with Tehran remained a “high priority” for Moscow as he met President Masoud Pezeshkian for the first time.
“Bilateral cooperation is a high priority for us and relations between the two sides are moving forward well, with trade volume expanding,” Putin told Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a forum in Turkmenistan’s capital of Ashgabat, IRNA reported.
“We work together on the international stage and our global assessments and approaches are in sync,” he added.
Putin also invited Pezeshkian to Russia to take part in a summit of the BRICS group of major emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – scheduled for October 22-24.
Pezeshkian, for his part, expressed hope that Tehran and Moscow would ink a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement during his upcoming visit to Russia this month.
Pezeshkian echoed Putin’s stance on the two countries’ growing economic ties as well as similar views on global affairs.
“Our relationship with Russia is cordial and strategic,” the Iranian president said, adding that “Iran and Russia have good complementary capacities that they can use to help each other.”
“Our stances in the world are much closer to each other than other countries,” he added.
Israeli atrocities
During the meeting, Pezeshkian also touched on the developments in the region, including Israeli attacks against the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples.
“The Zionist regime (of Israel) does not respect any international legal and humanitarian framework, and the situation in the region is critical,” he said.
Israel launched a military offensive against the Gaza Strip in October last year after the Palestinian resistance group Hamas carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm in response to the regime’s decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.
Since then, more than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes in the coastal territory.
Israel also intensified its attacks on Lebanon in recent weeks on the pretext of targeting Hezbollah’s strongholds which has been exchanging fire with the Israeli military in support of Palestinians in Gaza since last October 2023.
Spread of extremism
Addressing a ceremony in commemoration of Turkmen poet Magtymguly Pyragy, Pezeshkian warned against the spread of extremism globally and urged Muslim countries to unite in countering violence.
“The pursuit of unity is not limited to Islamic societies alone as the need for peace, deepening brotherhood, and fostering a dialogue of consensus is a requirement for the international community today,” he said.
“However, many elements of unilateralism continue to disrupt the coexistence of the human society in this journey,” the president added.
The ceremony in Ashgatat was attended by other regional leaders including Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and the heads of the other Central Asian nations, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.