FM Lavrov in Tehran to Extend Cooperation Deal

Date: 12 April 2021 - 21:33

News ID: ۸۹۱۱۳

TEHRAN (Dispatches) – Tehran and Moscow are going to sign a comprehensive cooperation agreement during Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s forthcoming visit to Tehran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Monday.
Lavrov was to arrive in Tehran Monday night, the spokesman told a virtual weekly news conference here, adding the agreement on comprehensive cooperation between Iran and Russia will be signed during the visit.
The spokesman said the Iran-Russia cooperation plan that has been in effect for the past 10 years and would expire soon will be extended during Lavrov’s visit to Tehran.
The top Russian diplomat will hold talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif on Tuesday, he noted.
Asked about the Caspian Sea legal regime, Khatibzadeh said the convention is being ratified by Iranian organizations.
"We believe that we should focus on the finalization of negotiations and a draft on defining the lines of origin in the Caspian Sea to facilitate the ratification of the convention,” he added.
In comments in July 2020, Zarif said Tehran would extend a 20-year cooperation agreement with Moscow.
Last month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi travelled to Tehran where he signed a 25-year partnership deal between China and Iran. The deal outlines plans for economic, political and security cooperation between the two countries, which are celebrating 50 years of diplomatic ties.
Since news of the agreement surfaced in 2016, the prospect of a closer alliance between two U.S. rivals has inspired alarm in the United States. In March, President Joe Biden told a reporter he had been "concerned for over a year” about the partnership.
On Sunday, the New York Times rebuked Washington’s overuse of financial sanctions could backfire badly as it cited U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew’s warning in 2016 that the practice could backfire badly.
"We’re starting to see glimpses of what can happen if sanctions remain for too long. China’s recent announcement of a plan to invest $400 billion in Iran’s oil, gas and transportation infrastructure in exchange for oil is a sign that China and Russia won’t abide by such onerous restrictions forever,” the paper wrote.