TEHRAN – A Russian delegation met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian here Monday, as the two countries prepared to sign a comprehensive cooperation agreement.
The Russian delegation invited Pezeshkian to visit Russia early in 2025, the media reports said. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei earlier said the deal was set to be signed during a bilateral visit in January.
Russia has cultivated closer ties with Iran and other countries of which the United States takes a dim view, such as North Korea, since the start of the Ukraine war.
The country’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in October that Moscow and Tehran intended to sign a deal which would include closer defense cooperation.
The Russian delegation to Iran was headed by deputy prime ministers Alexei Overchuk and Vitaly Savelev, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency.
“The parties are expected to discuss the joint work of Iran and the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) within the framework of a full-fledged agreement on a free trade zone,” Interfax said on Monday.
Speaking to reporters in Moscow, Savelyev said the purpose of the visit to Tehran was to resolve transport and logistics issues with Iran.
“Iran is a strategic partner for us. Of course, we have many common issues that we are going to discuss: maritime transport, automobile, rail transport, air links. Therefore, we expect from the visit that these negotiations will allow us on both sides to take the next step in our development,” he said.
“In my opinion, the issues that we will have to discuss at the highest level are of interest to both countries. The development of transport and logistics corridors is a top priority. We will continue to resolve these issues that were signed in 2023 - [within the framework of] the intergovernmental agreement,” Savelyev added.
In his meeting with the Russian delegation, President Pezeshkian said Iran is determined to implement an agreement with Russia to complete the North-South Transport Corridor.
He said the implementation of the Rasht-Astara railway section under the North-South international transport corridor project is among Iran’s priorities.
“Iran is committed to the provisions of this agreement and the Russian side can begin mapping the route and prepare the implementation of the project as soon as possible.” 
He said the Iranian government puts emphasis on the implementation of the agreement and the country’s minister of roads and urban development is pursuing the issue.
The 162-kilometer Rasht-Astara railway is a strategic transport corridor that will connect the Iranian city of Rasht near the Caspian Sea to Astara on the border with Azerbaijan. 
The project, which is aimed at integrating the transport routes of Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran and India, is carried out within the framework of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
Savelyev said Russia is resolute on implementing the Rasht-Astara railway and has granted the necessary credit line.
Russia is cooperating with Azerbaijan to complete the North-South Corridor and calls on Iran to implement it, he added.
He noted that Russia and Azerbaijan have agreed to modernize the part of this railway located on their territory and also ask Iran to help make the necessary arrangements to update and renovate the project inside the country.
The Russian official hailed his country’s growing cooperation with Iran in the transport section.
It is expected that the two countries would transfer 15 million tonnes of goods with the implementation of the Rasht-Astara railway, he noted.
Savelyev also invited the Iranian president to travel to Russia early in 2025 and said Russia is making the arrangements for the trip and the agreements that would be signed between the two sides.
According to earlier reports, Russia will provide an interstate loan of 1.3 billion euros for the railway construction. The total value of the project was estimated at 1.6 billion euros at the moment the agreement was signed.
“The loan is ready, there are issues we need to discuss with the Iranian side. The financing has been opened de facto; everything has been agreed upon, the question is when we will begin. We will discuss this,” Savelyev said.
Overchuk put trade between Iran and Russia by the third quarter at $3.3 
billion, up 14.7 percent compared to the corresponding period last year.
Last Tuesday, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said Iran will be granted observer state status in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
“The focus is on strengthening the EAEU’s external ties. The circle of observer states is expanding. In addition to Uzbekistan and Cuba, Iran will also receive this status,” Mishustin told the Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
Launched on Jan. 1, 2015, the EAEU currently includes five member states: Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia.
Mishustin noted that the EAEU has free trade agreements with four countries and is negotiating with more nations to boost exports of EAEU goods and ensure competitively priced imports from non-member states. 
On Monday, Overchuk said with its observer membership. Iran would gain access to the large market of 190 million people of the Eurasian union.
For Russia, it will mean about $300 million being saved on duties a year after the agreement goes into effect, he added. 
Russia “is highly interested in its operation to start as soon as practicable,” Overchuk noted. “So that our goods go to the Iranian market without duties quicker and, certainly, for Iranian goods to saturate our market and thereby improve the price situation, improve the supply on our market,” he added.
The full-scale free trade agreement with Iran was signed by member-countries of the Eurasian Economic Union on December 25, 2023. In Iran, the relevant law has been approved by the government, but is yet to be signed by the president.