While attending the 10th BRICS Parliamentary Forum in St. Petersburg, the Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told President Putin “I would like to assure you and our Russian colleagues that the Iranian Parliament and the new Iranian government will continue to expand cooperation with the Russian Federation,” a TASS article reported on July 12.
Speaker Ghalibaf reassured Putin that Iran is “determined” to implement good relations and continue economic projects which had been previously negotiated by the late Iran President Ebrahim Raisi who was tragically killed on May 19 in a helicopter crash. Raisi had been flying back home after inaugurating a dam project on the Iran-Azerbaijan border with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, as part of Raisi’s diplomacy for development and peace.
Ghalibaf also noted Russia’s cooperation with Iran in “countering threats and challenges” imposed on Iran by the U.S. and its allies. Yet most importantly, Ghalibaf emphasized that Russian-Iranian relations need to develop economic projects. “The Iranian parliament has adopted a five-year program, and the North-South project tops the list of the region’s major projects.”
