President Raisi, heading a high-ranking delegation, visited Russia on Wednesday and Thursday. The Iranian chief executive met with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Raisi held various meetings with religious, political and academic figures. He addressed Russian members of parliament (Duma) and was awarded an honorary doctorate at Moscow State University.
The second top official in the Islamic establishment was invited to officially visit Moscow, which is the capital of one of the superpowers in the world.
Raisi pointed to the influential role of both regional powers (Russia and Iran) in different developments such as uprooting terrorist groups in Syria. Putin underlined that the tow countries have assisted international fight against terrorism. The Russian president further said that Tehran and Moscow are planning to enhance bilateral ties, noting that despite difficult economic situation inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries experienced a six percent increase in trade exchanges.
During a speech at Duma, Iran’s president called for setting up a civilized international community in light of cooperation, interaction and common interests of nations.
Raisi criticized the Western powers especially the US for resorting to imposition of illegal sanctions as a new way of domination, urging independent countries to stand against unilateralism.
As to Iran’s nuclear activities, the president argued that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continues inspecting Iranian nuclear facilities, and that the Islamic Republic has been pioneer in abiding by international regulations and contracts, while the West refused to comply with their commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal.
Raisi’s meeting with Russian economic actors is expected to pave the way for increase of investments in Iran and provide the Islamic Republic with the opportunity to get rid of relying on the Western countries.
The Iranian president has urged his cabinet members to pave the ground for implementation of agreements with the Russians in security, political, economic, technological, industrial and transportation fields.
Despite the fact that some media outlets and individuals tried to propagate fake news on Raisi’s tour to Moscow, the Russian authorities welcomed the Iranian chief executive and his entourage very warmly, and President Putin discussed strategic issues with his Iranian counterpart.
1424
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