Politico-economic consultations between Iran, Russia key to enhanced ties, President Raeisi tells Putin in phone call

Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi tells his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that increased political and economic consultations between the two countries will play a leading role in the expansion of mutual relations.

In a phone call with his Russian counterpart on Saturday, Raeisi welcomed Moscow's keenness to improve economic cooperation with Tehran.

He said the expansion of infrastructural bonds, including the development of connecting routes among the Eurasian countries, would boost trade and economic cooperation in the region.

Putin, for his part, said the North-South Corridor plays an effective role in reducing the cost of transporting goods, adding that the transit route would turn into a useful way for the expansion of trade and economic cooperation in the world.

The Russian president emphasized that Tehran and Moscow enjoy great capacities to develop cooperation.

In a statement earlier in the day, the Kremlin said the Iranian and Russian presidents had, in their phone call, stressed the importance of deepening bilateral cooperation in political, trade and economic fields as well as in transport and the logistics sector.

"A number of topical issues on the bilateral agenda were discussed, with the emphasis on further enhancing cooperation in the political, trade and economic fields, including the transport and logistics sector," the Kremlin said.

The phone conversation came after Russia's Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev held talks with senior Iranian officials in Tehran on Wednesday, during which the two countries pledged closer ties.

• Cooperation among independent states, strongest response to US policy of sanctions, destabilization: Iran president

Patrushev traveled to Tehran amid allegations that Iran has provided Russia with weapons and drones to be used against Ukraine. Tehran has multiple times rejected in the strongest terms the Western claims, saying the country has had defense cooperation with Moscow for long and pursues a resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian last week dismissed media reports over Iran’s alleged support for Russia in the Ukraine war, assuring that Iran would not be indifferent if it is proven that Russia has used Iranian drones in the conflict.

• Iran’s FM: Tehran sent limited number of drones to Russia months before Ukraine war

Amir-Abdollahian, however, added that Iran had provided Russia with a limited number of drones months before the war in Ukraine.

The Pentagon said on Tuesday it has no evidence to suggest that Iran has provided Russia with ballistic missiles, days after reports emerged that Tehran was supplying such weapons to Moscow as its stockpile of conventional missiles was running low.

• In rebuff to Kiev, Pentagon says can’t confirm claims about Iranian missiles to Russia

At a press conference, the Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said the US military could not confirm the allegations about Iran. “We do not have any information to corroborate right now that Iran has delivered ballistic missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine.”

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