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Attending the meeting on the Russian side were Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, deputy prime ministers Alexander Novak and Alexei Overchuk, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office, Special Presidential Representative for Financial and Economic Cooperation with BRICS States and Interaction with the New Development Bank Maxim Oreshkin, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office – Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov, Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov, Minister of Transport Roman Starovoit, Director of the Federal Service for Military Technical Cooperation Dmitry Shugayev, Head of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia faction in the State Duma, Head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky, Head of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, Presidential Advisor Igor Levitin, Head of the Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare Anna Popova, and Director General of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom Alexei Likhachev.

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Beginning of Russian-Iranian talks

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President,

Colleagues, friends,

This visit to Russia is your first as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and this has great symbolic importance.

Iran has become a full participant of BRICS, and you know that we strongly supported your application. Earlier, we also vigorously promoted your accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. This has given us additional opportunities for cooperation in the international arena.

Recently, we had a very substantive and, I am sure, useful meeting in Ashgabat, where we reviewed the main aspects of bilateral cooperation and the most relevant regional issues. Most importantly, we reaffirmed our policy of mutually strengthening ties in every possible way. Our interaction is on the rise; it is genuinely friendly and constructive. Soon we will be able to consolidate the results achieved with a new major interstate agreement on comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and Iran.

We are grateful to you for accepting the invitation to pay a separate visit to our country to sign this document and other important documents in a ceremonial atmosphere.

As I said in Ashgabat, one of our priorities is to consolidate the emerging positive trends in trade and economic cooperation. We expect this issue to be addressed by the intergovernmental commission, chaired by our Minister of Energy, Mr Tsivilev, and Iranian Minister of Petroleum Mohsen Paknejad.

Other priorities include the implementation of major joint initiatives such as the development of Iranian railway infrastructure as part of promoting a major project, the International North-South Transport Corridor project, as well as the construction of the second and third power units at the Bushehr NPP.

Indeed, the Free Trade Agreement signed between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union at the close of 2023 significantly contributes to the expansion of economic ties.

Cultural and humanitarian cooperation is likewise making good progress. Notably, an intergovernmental agreement concerning the establishment and operation of cultural centres came into effect in July of this year. Moreover, the visa-free regime for organised groups of tourists, operational since August of the previous year, is actively fostering an increase in mutual tourist exchange – a 52-percent growth was observed in 2023.

Today, we will continue our discussions on the most pressing international issues, including the dramatic developments in the Middle East, as well as the situations in Syria and the South Caucasus.

Generally speaking, I would like to emphasise that the approaches of Russia and Iran towards the global agenda are closely aligned or fully coincide. We are united by a shared aspiration to establish a just multipolar world order, to uphold international norms, and to maintain the pivotal role of the United Nations.

I would also like to take this opportunity to extend my greetings and best wishes to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. We hold in high regard his attentive and constructive approach to the development of Russian-Iranian relations.

Thank you.

President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian (retranslated): Good afternoon, Mr President,

Most particularly, I ought to express my gratitude for your invitation to visit Kazan. I am very pleased to have this opportunity to meet with you.

As you mentioned, we had a very productive meeting in Ashgabat, during which certain agreements were reached. I have assumed personal oversight of the implementation of these agreements and have just spoken with my colleagues and ministers to finalise at this meeting matters left by the previous Government of Iran. If necessary, I will personally attend to this matter once again to ensure that all agreements and documents are signed at the earliest possible opportunity.

Our relations are of a strategic nature – it is in the interests of our nations to advance together. Our esteemed neighbour, Russia, is a great country.

We must continue our constructive collaboration within the BRICS framework. With your support, we have joined the EAEU [in the format of a free trade zone], the SCO, and BRICS, for which we are sincerely grateful to you, Mr President. We will undoubtedly and actively continue along this path.

I believe that today’s discussions were highly beneficial. Everything was constructive, and our course is also aimed at comprehensive cooperation with BRICS countries.

I am confident that we will be able to neutralise all the sanctions the United States has imposed on us, on you and us, and we shall be able to straighten out all the processes they are attempting to disrupt.

Our relations across various spheres – economic, political, and cultural – are developing exceedingly well. I am certain that we will soon be able to sign the treaty. At the earliest opportunity, we shall finalise this issue; we shall agree on this matter. I believe that the date for the signing of this treaty will soon be determined.

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