TEHRAN -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will pay an official state visit to Russia in 2022 upon an invitation by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Government spokesman Ali Bahadori-Jahromi said on Tuesday.
The state visit will probably take place in the early days of the new year, he told reporters here.
Earlier Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “Russian-Iranian contacts at the highest level are being prepared.”
Russia has been a diplomatic and military ally of the Islamic Republic. The two countries have been helping Syria beat back foreign-backed takfiri terrorism in the Arab country.
Successive Iranian presidents have attached great importance to ties with Moscow.
Earlier in December, Putin said that he invited his Iranian counterpart to visit Russia early next year, adding, “I hope Iran’s president will accept my invitation”.
In a phone call with his Russian counterpart in September, President Raisi said Tehran was determined to boost relations with Moscow in all fields.
“We are pursuing development and deepening of cooperation between the two countries in all dimensions,” Raisi said then.
Iran and Russia have strengthened their elations in recent years. Moscow strongly supported Iran’s full membership at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a Eurasian political, economic and security bloc that also includes China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, India, Pakistan.
Iran and Russia are also trying to develop their economic ties through the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).