Iran's President Hassan Rouhani arrived in Moscow Monday evening for a two-day official visit to discuss regional issues and matters of mutual interest with his Russian counterpart and other senior Russian officials.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to officially welcome his Iranian counterpart at the Kremlin today. The two sides will discuss various bilateral issues and the latest developments in the region. The two presidents are also expected to issue a statement following their meeting.
Meanwhile, Rouhani yesterday met Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in a bid to develop a warming relationship. He told Russia’s prime minister: “I hope that a new turning-point in the development of our relations will be reached.”
Iranian media say he will discuss several economic agreements.
According to Iran’s TV Press, Iran and Russia are expected to sign 15 agreements to boost cooperation between the two countries in different economic, judicial and diplomatic fields.
IRNA reports that speaking to reporters in Tehran on Monday before setting off for Moscow, Rouhani said the expansion of relations between Iran and Russia, especially in the field of energy, will serve the interests of the two countries and the entire Middle East region.
Pointing to “close” international cooperation between the two countries, he commended Russia’s great role in the signing and implementation of the 2015 landmark nuclear agreement – known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCOPA) – between the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 group of countries.
Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China — plus Germany signed the JCPOA on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.
Economic ties between Iran and Russia have developed in recent years. Bilateral trade nearly doubled between January 2016 and January 2017, according to a statement by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development cited by the Sputnik news agency.
"The political and military relations right now between the Islamic Republic and Russia are the strongest that we’ve seen ever," Ellie Geranmayeh, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
The rapprochement is a concern for both Saudi Arabia, Tehran's main rival for dominance in the Middle East, and for U.S. President Donald Trump, who has expressed an interest in working more closely with Russia but has issued a number of harsh statements about Iran.
After Iran carried out a ballistic missile test in late January, Trump tweeted that the Islamic Republic has been put “on notice” and moved quickly to issue new sanctions.
Reuters reports that of greatest probable concern to Washington is the sale of military hardware to the Islamic Republic. Last year, Russia reportedly provided Iran with its S-300 missile defense system, which had been purchased in 2007 but was stalled for years because of sanctions.
Senior Iranian defense officials have expressed interest in purchasing SU-30 fighter aircraft and T-90 tanks from Russia, according to Reuters.
