TEHRAN -- President Masoud Pezeshkian here Wednesday underlined the expansion of friendly relations with neighbors as a centerpiece of his foreign policy as he embarked on an official trip to Tajikistan and Russia.
The visit, Pezeshkian’s first to the Eurasian region since he took office in late July, comes at the official invitation of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.
Several key cabinet ministers and officials, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, Minister of Petroleum Mohsen Paknejad, Finance Minister Abdolnaser Hemmati, and Central Bank Governor Muhammad Reza Farzin accompany him in the visit. 
Speaking at Mehrabad airport, Pezeshkian said he will vigorously pursue the policy outlined by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to enhance relations with neighbors.
The president is expected to sign new agreements on expansion of cooperation in various sectors, including agriculture, science, industry, trade, transportation, and mining with Tajikistan.
Pezeshkian will then travel to Moscow, where he and President Vladimir Putin are expected to sign a broad partnership pact between Iran and Russia on Friday.
The two presidents are about to discuss expanding cooperation, including in “trade, investment, transport, logistics, humanitarian sphere, and current issues on the regional and international agenda”, according to a Kremlin statement.
Russia and Iran have cultivated closer ties in recent years as part of their shared effort to create a bulwark against Western efforts to isolate them. Doing so affords the two countries the ability to effectively shelter and provide each other with political support, defense assistance, and economic ties.
They also share a worldview which seeks to establish an alternative set of international institutions in order to safeguard the interests of the countries outside the Western orbit and balance against those organizations established by the United States in the aftermath of World War II.