MOSCOW, November 17. /TASS/. Iran and Russia must expand their security cooperation, First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said at a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

"We need to step up our cooperation in the field of security in order to protect our critical infrastructure. We hope that the Russian side will also pay attention to this. Iranian agencies are currently working to accelerate the implementation of all our agreements," he said.

Mohammad Reza Aref expressed his readiness to speed up the implementation of cooperation agreements with Russia regarding international information security. "The bilateral agreement on international information security is currently undergoing internal procedures," he added. The two countries have a cooperation agreement in the field of information security that was signed in 2021 and came into force in 2024. They also coordinate their policies in this area at the UN, BRICS, and the SCO.

The Iranian first vice present proposed holding the next meeting of the Russian-Iranian Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation in Iran on February 16-18 in 2026. The previous meeting took place on April 23-25 in 2025 in Moscow.

Following negotiations in the Kremlin on January 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement. On April 21, the Russian president signed a law ratifying the agreement. On May 21, the Iranian parliament ratified the agreement. The two countries agreed not to support aggressors in the event of an attack on Russia or Iran. However, the document does not imply military assistance in the event of an armed attack on one of the parties to the agreement.