TEHRAN - Iran’s Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian in a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday expressed gratitude to his Russian counterpart for Moscow’s help in approaching a deal to remove U.S. sanctions against Iran.
In the meeting, Amir-Abdollahian said that expansion of ties with neighbor Russia was important to Iran, as important agreements were signed during Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s January trip to Russia.
He said that he was confident that both Iranian and Russian officials have been pursuing those agreements.
The Iranian top diplomat said that the meeting was a significant opportunity for the colleagues to discuss the situation in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria and Palestine.
Lavrov said that Iran-Russia business transaction had seen an 80-percent growth despite “well-known factors”, reaching 4 billion dollars.
And also on Monday, Amir-Abdollahian in a phone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba has expressed Iran’s support for any political effort aimed at putting an end to the conflict in Ukraine.
in the phone conversation, the two conferred on the latest developments as Russia’s military operation in the former Soviet state undergoes its third week.
The two sides stressed the need for protection of diplomatic facilities during the ongoing conflict and delivery of humanitarian aid.
Amir-Abdollahian expounded on Iran’s stance and its opposition to any kind of war across the world, underlining the need for a political solution and diplomatic dialogue to resolve the crisis between Moscow and Kiev.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran supports any political effort to resolve the crisis,” the top Iranian diplomat said. “We are against war whether in Ukraine, Afghanistan or Yemen and any other place without exception.”