Iran, Russia to ink comprehensive cooperation agreement

Ambassador: Pezeshkian to visit Moscow in mid-January

Iran’s ambassador to Russia announced that Tehran and Moscow are prepared to sign a comprehensive cooperation agreement during President Masoud Pezeshkian’s visit to Moscow on January 17, 2025.  
Kazem Jalali stated that the agreement would be signed by Pezeshkian and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during the visit.  
Jalali made the remarks during a meeting with Iranian students and officials from St. Petersburg’s North-Western State Medical University as he was in the Russian port city to attend the Supreme Council meeting of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).  
Addressing the issues concerning Iranian students at Russian universities, Jalali also highlighted the International North-South Transit Corridor (INSTC) as a key economic initiative between the two nations.
He noted that two Russian deputy prime ministers visited Tehran last Monday to discuss the corridor project with Iran’s president and other officials.  
The ambassador also referred to the planned gas transfer project from Russia to Iran, expressing optimism about its successful implementation in the near future.  
Jalali emphasized Iran’s growing involvement in the EAEU, particularly following the recent participation of Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade in the union’s meeting in St. Petersburg.
He described Iran’s observer membership status as a step toward boosting trade relations with member countries.  
The ambassador further highlighted lesser-known cultural ties between Iran and regions of Russia, including North Ossetia, Dagestan, Astrakhan, and others, noting the expanding cultural and economic relations between the two nations.
Iranian students, he said, act as cultural bridges and ambassadors of this growing relationship.  
Jalali concluded by underlining the importance of people-to-people connections as the most enduring aspect of bilateral relations and urged increased involvement of Iranian businesspeople and private sector players in Russia to enhance economic ties.
On Monday, Pezeshkian said that his government is determined to complete the INSTC.
He made the announcement in a meeting with Vitaly Gennadyevich Savelyev, the Russian deputy prime minister for transport, as both sides discussed the expansion of bilateral relations and strategies for accelerating the completion of the strategic INSTC project.
Pezeshkian highlighted the priority of implementation of the Rasht-Astara railway project as a part of INSTC under the Iran-Russia agreement.
He stated that Iran is committed to the terms of the agreement and called on the Russian side to begin mapping the route and preparing for project implementation as soon as possible.
“The Iranian government emphasizes the execution of this agreement, and our Minister of Roads and Urban Development [Farzaneh Sadeq-Malvajerd] is responsible for overseeing its implementation,” Pezeshkian said.
For his part, Savelyev, extended warm regards from the Russian president and prime minister to Pezeshkian and invited him to visit Russia in early 2025, saying that the Russian government is preparing for this visit and the associated negotiations.
Highlighting the Rasht-Astara railway project, Savelyev reaffirmed his government’s commitment to its execution.
He noted that Russia has secured the necessary line of credit and is collaborating with Azerbaijan on the INSTC.
Savelyev also expressed the Russian government’s desire to expedite the implementation of the project, stating that Russia and Azerbaijan have agreed to modernize the portion of the railway located in their territories and called on Tehran to pave the ground for upgrading its section of the railway.
He described the increase in cargo transport between Russia and Iran as growing and expressed optimism that the implementation of the Astara-Rasht railway agreement could initially facilitate the transfer of 15 million tons of goods between the
two countries.

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