TEHERAN, October 11. /TASS/. The Iranian side expressed hope that it can sign a revised agreement on comprehensive cooperation with Russia in a few months, Spokesperson for Iranian Foreign Ministry Saeed Khatibzadeh stated on Monday.
"We expect that within a few months, we will witness the signing of this document," the press service quoted the spokesperson as saying.
According to the diplomat, "it has become necessary to further develop the treaty." "This issue was discussed during [Russian Foreign Minister] Sergey Lavrov’s previous visit [to Iran], and now in Tehran, we are preparing the final clauses of the agreement," Khatibzadeh noted.
Russia and Iran signed the Treaty on the Basis for Mutual Relations and the Principles of Cooperation in March 2001, and its duration was automatically extended every five years. On September 24, 2020, during a visit to Moscow, then Iranian top diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif said that before the next extension, the country sought to consider the possibility of updating the document in line with the current state of affairs.
The Russian foreign minister paid an official visit to Iran on April 13. The countries’ top diplomats signed an agreement on establishing and operating conditions of cultural centers. Also, Lavrov met with ex-President of Iran Hassan Rouhani and Chairman of the Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.