Russian President and his counterpart, Masud Pezeskian today signed a 20-year strategic partnership treaty involving closer defence cooperation, which may cause concern for the West. Pezeskian, on his first visit to the Kremlin after the presidency took over last July, welcomed the signing as an important new chapter in the relations of the two countries, while Putin said that Moscow and Tehran have many similar views on international affairs. DEPENDENCE “This (the Treaty) creates better conditions for bilateral cooperation in all areas,” Putin said, stressing the positives for economic relations and trade, which, he said, is carried out mainly in the currencies of the two countries. “We need less bureaucracy and more concrete action. Whatever difficulties are created by others, we will be able to overcome them and move forward,” Putin added, referring to Western sanctions against the two countries. Putin said Russia regularly informs Iran of what is happening in the conflict in Ukraine and that they are consulted in close cooperation on events in the Middle East and the South Caucasus region. CORVERSE Putin said that work on a possible gas pipeline to transport Russian gas to Iran goes ahead despite difficulties and that, despite delays in the construction of new nuclear reactors for Iran, Moscow is open to possibly taking on more nuclear projects. Pezeskian, whose statements were translated by Russian state television, said that this agreement would create good opportunities and that it shows that Moscow and Iran do not need to take into account the opinion of “the ocean countries”, as he said. “The agreements we have reached today are another stimulus in creating a multipolar world,” he said. Direct details of the 20-year Russian agreement; Iran did not become known, but was not expected to include mutual defence clauses similar to those included in the agreements signed by Moscow with Minsk and Pyongyang.
Putin and Pezeskian signed 20-year strategic cooperation Russia and Iran
—
in World