MOSCOW, June 5. /TASS/. Iran expects Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit Tehran in the near future, Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali said.

"Relations between the two countries have now reached the level of a strategic partnership. High-ranking officials are visiting, and we expect Vladimir Putin to visit Tehran soon," the embassy's press service quoted Jalali as saying.

On May 14, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran and Moscow are preparing for Russian President Vladimir Putin's upcoming visit to Iran. However, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that the dates of the trip have not yet been agreed upon.

Putin first visited Iran in October 2007 for the second summit of the Caspian states. During that visit, he met with the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for the first time. His next visit occurred eight years later, in November 2015, for the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in the Iranian capital. Putin visited Tehran again in November 2017 for Iranian-Russian-Azerbaijani negotiations. In September 2018, the Russian leader attended the third meeting of the heads of state - guarantors of the Astana process for promoting the Syrian settlement, which took place in the Iranian capital. In July 2022, Putin visited Tehran again to participate in the seventh Astana format meeting. All five of the Russian president's visits to Iran were of a working nature.