TEHRAN, March 29. /TASS/. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian arrived in Moscow on an official visit late on Tuesday, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on its Telegram channel.
The minister and his delegation were greeted at the airport by Russian Foreign Ministry officials, as well as by the Iranian ambassador to Russia and staff members of the country’s Moscow embassy. Upon his arrival, the minister had a brief conversation with Iranian journalists, commenting on questions that he planned to raise during the talks in Russia.
"One of the issues to be raised during our tomorrow discussions with [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov will be the JCPOA [the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran’s nuclear program]," he said. "Russia played an efficient role in the new round of the 4+1 talks in Vienna, which continued for a few months. Our Russian colleagues keep fulfilling their obligations related to returning the sides [to the negotiating table]."
The Iranian Foreign Ministry wrote on its Telegram channel on Tuesday that Abdollahian would visit Moscow at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. According to the ministry’s statement, the sides will discuss various aspects of bilateral relations, as well as certain issues on the regional and international agenda of mutual interest.
In turn, the Tasnim News Agency reported citing Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali, that Abdollahian planned to discuss in Moscow the development of the International North-South Transport Corridor and to look into the activity of the joint intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation.
Abdollahian’s visit to the Russian capital was initially planned for January, but the sides agreed to postpone it to a later date. Among the issues to be raised are preparations for a meeting of deputy foreign ministers from Russia, Turkey, Iran and Syria on improving the ties between Damascus and Ankara. Besides, the sides will discuss the second three-plus-three meeting on reconciliation in the South Caucasus Region, earlier announced by the Russian foreign minister, as well as Syrian reconciliation efforts within the Astana format. It is also possible that the ministers will address Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.
The sides will also discuss the situation in the Middle East in the context of an earlier announcement about the resumption of diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Russian Foreign Minsitry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said ahead of the talks.
Bilateral cooperation is also expected to be discussed. Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali said earlier there were ‘serious grounds’ to believe that a comprehensive agreement on bilateral cooperation between Tehran and Moscow will be signed by the end of the year, and that a document to establish a free trade zone between Iran and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) will be ratified.
Jalali also expressed hope that Russia and Iran would agree on visa-free travel for individual tourists later this year. Currently, visa-free travel from Russia to Iran is possible only in groups.