DUBAI, October 11. /TASS/. Iran-Russia relations are strategic and sincere and bilateral cooperation is strengthening every day, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said at a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Ashgabat.

"Iran-Russia relations are strategic and sincere. Our cooperation is getting stronger day by day in economic and cultural fields," the presidential press service quoted the leader as saying.

This is Putin's first meeting with Pezeshkian since he took office as Iran's president. It was held in Ashgabat on the sidelines of the Interconnection of Times and Civilizations - Basis of Peace and Development international forum, which is dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the great Turkmen poet and thinker Makhtumkuli Fraghi.

On September 30, the Iranian president said during talks with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin that Iran and Russia can further strengthen cooperation between the countries, especially in the issue of countering Western sanctions.