Iran, Russia Sign Information Security Cooperation Pact

Date: 26 January 2021 - 21:36

News ID: ۸۶۹۶۵

TEHRAN (Dispatches) –Highest-ranking diplomats from Iran and Russia on Tuesday signed an information security agreement that entails closer interaction between Tehran and Moscow in cyber-security activities.
The information security cooperation agreement between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation was signed by Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov at a meeting in Moscow.
Zarif arrived in Moscow for negotiations on the JCPOA, the Karabakh conflict, new international conditions after termination of Donald Trump’s term, a 6-party regional cooperation platform, and the relations with Russia.
Speaking to reporters upon arrival in Moscow, Zarif said Iran and Russia have strategic relations and need to hold regular and constant negotiations in various conditions.
Under the pact, Iran and Russia will cooperate in various fields, such as strengthening information security, the fight against the crimes committed with the use of information and communications technology, the technical and technological assistance, and the international cooperation including detection, coordination, and collaboration in the regional and international organizations to ensure national and international security.
He further hailed the Russian president’s efforts to halt the armed clashes in the Nagorno-Karabakh region in Iran’s neighborhood, stressing that implementation of the agreements achieved after the war "is important to create common interests among the regional countries, particularly in the transit sector and participation in and cooperation for progress.”

Iran to Respond to U.S.
Actions, Not Its Words

Zarif also said Iran will take proper action whenever the U.S. lifts its anti-Iran sanctions to pave the way for its return to the 2015 nuclear deal, stressing that the Islamic Republic takes Washington’s actions, not words, as its yardstick.
"What we have heard from the

new United States administration so far has mostly been in the form of words and announcement of its positions,” Zarif said.
"However, it is actions that we choose to respond to,” he added.
The newly-inaugurated U.S. President Joe Biden has voiced a willingness to return his country to the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and five other world states — namely France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China.

Iran Approves Russian Vaccine for COVID-19

Zarif also says his country has approved Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine and plans to both import it and produce it, giving the country a tool to fight the spread of COVID-19.
"The Sputnik V vaccine was yesterday registered and approved by our health authorities,” Zarif said.
"In the near future, we hope to be able to purchase it, as well as start joint production.”
Earlier this month the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei banned the government from importing vaccines from the United States and Britain, which he said were possibly seeking to spread the infection to other countries.
Iran’s government spokesman Ali Rabiei announced that the vaccination of high-risk groups of people will begin before the 42nd anniversary of the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in February.