MOSCOW, October 2. /TASS/. The current level of relations between Moscow and Tehran has reached unprecedented heights, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.
Commenting on reports that Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian allegedly called Russia an "aggressor," the diplomat remarked that such claims are "a classic example of tactics used by enemies attempting to drive a wedge between Russia and Iran and play political games."
"We consider this unscrupulous and futile. <...> Russian-Iranian ties are friendly, they have reached an unprecedentedly high level. This is confirmed by the recent visit of Russian Prime Minister [Mikhail] Mishustin to Tehran and the upcoming meeting of our presidents on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan," she said.
"We know this because we verified the information, as there were many questions. There was an interview with the Iranian president by a leading American media outlet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly's high-level week in New York. He did use the word 'aggression,' but he applied it to Israeli actions. He said: 'You cannot be silent when accusing others of aggression.' He did not call Russia the aggressor - we did not hear that. There is no such statement in the official messages on the Iranian president's website either; we also looked it up," the diplomat said.
"But again, either it was someone's imagination, or someone chose to interpret it that way. Our analysis suggests there may have been a translation error, but whether it was made deliberately by certain media outlets or accidentally, out of ignorance, remains unclear. Still, I believe there is malicious intent here, as we have seen this happen more than once," she continued. "The motive is clear - to drive a wedge between Russia and Iran, disrupt our fruitful cooperation, and further complicate the situation in the region," Zakharova concluded.