News - Middle East: President Vladimir Putin has told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian that relations with Iran are a priority for Russia and these relations are developing successfully.

The two presidents met on the sidelines of a forum in Turkmenistan’s capital of Ashgabat on Friday, where Putin said the positions of Tehran and Moscow regarding international developments are very close.

“Moscow and Tehran actively cooperate with each other in the international arena and often agree on their assessments of world events,” the Russian leader said.

“This year, we are witnessing an increase in the volume of trade between the two countries and its good trend,” Russian media quoted him as saying.

 Pezeshkian said Iran’s relationship with Russia is “sincere and strategic”.

“From the economic and cultural point of view, our relations are getting stronger day by day,” he said.

“The growing process of cooperation between Iran and Russia should be accelerated according to the will of the supreme leaders of the two countries and the need to strengthen these relations.”

Iran and Russia, Pezeshkian said, have good complementary capacities that they can use to help each other.

“Our positions in the world are much closer to each other than other countries,” he added.

The Iranian president touched on a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement between Iran and Russia, hoping they will speed up the signing of the document.

“I hope we will finalize this agreement during the BRICS summit” in the Russian city of Kazan this month, he added.

The summit of emerging economies starts on October 22, with the leaders of 24 countries expected to attend it, including China’s Xi Jinping and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

President Pezeshkian also touched on the developments in the region, including the Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian and Lebanese people.

“The Zionist regime does not respect any international legal and humanitarian framework, and the situation in the region is critical,” he said.

Meanwhile, European and American countries do not want relations between the regional countries of to continue on a peaceful footing, Pezeshkian added.

The conference in Ashgatat is being attended by other regional leaders including Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and the heads of the other Central Asian nations, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Speaking as the forum opened, Putin said the countries want to create a “new world order” to counter the West.

Press TV