ASHGABAT (Dispatches) -- Russian president Vladimir Putin here Friday hailed the country’s “very close” relationship with Iran in the first meeting with his newly-appointed counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian.

They held an inaugural meeting on the sidelines of a regional summit in Ashgabat, the capital of the Central Asian country Turkmenistan, to discuss - among other topics - the ongoing situation in the Middle East.

“We are actively working together in the international arena and our assessments of events taking place in the world are often very close,” Putin said during the meeting, according to Russian state media outlet Tass.

Putin, whose country is hosting a summit of the BRICS nations, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, in Kazan on 22 - 24 October, invited Pezeshkian to come to Russia on an official visit, a proposal the Iranian president accepted according to Russia’s state RIA news agency.

Ahead of the meeting, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the agenda would focus on “primarily bilateral Russian-Iranian relations,” according to Tass.

“But, of course, the situation in the Middle East will not be ignored, it will also be on the agenda,” he reportedly said. “In any case, there will be a serious conversation.”

“Economically and culturally, our communications are being strengthened day by day and becoming more robust,” Pezeshkian was cited as telling Putin by IRNA news agency.

“The growing trend of cooperation between Iran and Russia, considering the will of the top leaders of both countries, must be accelerated to strengthen these ties,” he said.

Pezeshkian last month committed his country to deeper ties with Russia to counter Western sanctions. The two countries say they are close to signing a strategic partnership agreement, something Pezeshkian said on Friday he hoped could be finalized at the BRICS summit in Russia later this month.

The summit of emerging economies starts on October 22, with the leaders of 24 countries expected to attend it, including China’s Xi Jinping and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The Russian foreign ministry has hailed the meetings as evidence that Russia-Iran relations are at an “all-time high,” Tass reported.

Pezeshkian said Iran’s relationship with Russia is “sincere and strategic”.

“From the economic and cultural

 point of view, our relations are getting stronger day by day,” he said.
“The growing process of cooperation between Iran and Russia should be accelerated according to the will of the supreme leaders of the two countries and the need to strengthen these relations.”
Iran and Russia, Pezeshkian said, have good complementary capacities that they can use to help each other. “Our positions in the world are much closer to each other than other countries,” he added.
President Pezeshkian also touched on the developments in the region, including the Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian and Lebanese people.
“The Zionist regime does not respect any international legal and humanitarian framework, and the situation in the region is critical,” he said.
Meanwhile, European and American countries do not want relations between the regional countries of to continue on a peaceful footing, Pezeshkian added.
The conference in Ashgabat was attended by other regional leaders including Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and the heads of the other Central Asian nations, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Speaking as the forum opened, Putin said the countries want to create a “new world order” to counter the West.
In his address to the conference, Pezeshkian warned against the spread of extremism globally and urged Muslim countries to unite in countering violence, while also slamming Israeli atrocities in Gaza and Lebanon. 
Underlining that Islamic unity is a force to address threats and prevent disunion, he said division among Muslims is only of benefit to the enemies and should be dealt with through empathy.
The Iranian president pointed to the Israeli regime’s year-long onslaught against the besieged Gaza Strip and Lebanon and said the violence is indescribable.
“The depth of the Gaza crisis and the continuation of this unequal war and the perpetuation of brutal attacks on Lebanon are beyond description.”
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Culture Minister Abbas Salehi accompanied the president on the trip.