Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said in an interview with TASS that Russia and Iran were very close to finalizing a “Comprehensive Cooperation Treaty” between the two countries.
“Editing such a serious document, meant to elevate the status of Russian-Iranian ties to the level of comprehensive strategic partnership, has taken almost two and a half years and today it can be considered complete,” Rudenko stated. IRNA reported that Iranian President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone conversation that Tehran was ready to sign with Moscow at the Oct. 22-24 BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia.
The full content of the treaty has not been made public, but it clearly is not to the West’s liking. Rudenko added: “As a sovereign nation, Iran has the right to pursue its foreign policies as it sees fit. We, on our part, assume that the relations between Russia and Iran have a solid basis of friendship and neighborliness and are not susceptible to … external influence, despite our adversaries’ attempts to play dirty and drive a wedge between the two nations.”
