Russian Foreign Minister: Moscow and Tehran Will Soon Finalize Comprehensive Agreement

The Russian Foreign Minister stated that Moscow and Tehran are finalizing the preparations for signing a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement. Sergey Lavrov emphasized on Monday, September 3, during a meeting with students at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, that there are still 'some technical details remaining' and that it is symbolically important for the agreement to be finalized as soon as possible. He also considered this action as part of cooperation with the new Iranian president and government, describing it as 'an important and symbolic step.' The Russian Foreign Minister highlighted the 'rapid expansion' of Tehran-Moscow relations and numerous joint projects, specifically noting the significance of the North-South corridor project, which, according to Lavrov, will directly connect St. Petersburg to the Persian Gulf and, through this route, to the Indian Ocean. He emphasized the significant reduction in transportation time and costs using this corridor, calling it one of the 'most promising transit routes.' Iranian and Russian officials discussed accelerating the approval process of the draft comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement in the final months of Ebrahim Raisi's administration. Among them, in mid-June, following the announcement of a temporary suspension of the agreement's signing and its denial by the Iranian ambassador in Moscow, the Russian Foreign Minister announced that the signing of the agreement would occur after 'administrative issues' were resolved by Tehran. However, following the sudden death of Ebrahim Raisi, these discussions were halted. Nevertheless, Russian officials who traveled to Tehran for Raisi's funeral emphasized the importance of this agreement during meetings with Iranian counterparts and Ali Khamenei. In the lead-up to the second round of Iran's presidential elections, Mohammad Mokhber, the then-acting president of Iran, emphasized the necessity of expediting the legal foundations of comprehensive cooperation between Tehran and Moscow during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, calling for its approval and implementation. Russia and Iran signed a 20-year strategic agreement in 2001, which, according to the Russian state news agency TASS, was automatically extended for another five years in 2020. The two sides also agreed in 2020 to work on a new treaty to replace the old document. In recent years, especially following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia and Iran have expanded their relations, with the Islamic Republic providing numerous suicide drones to Russia, which has intensified sanctions against Tehran.