Iranian president to visit Russia next year

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will visit Russia after receiving an invitation from his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, the Iranian government announced on December 28.

Putin has invited Raisin to visit Moscow early next year "within the framework of strategic interaction between Iran and Russia," said Ali Bahadori Jahromi.

This visit is expected to discuss "bilateral, regional and national cooperation" and in particular "economic and trade" cooperation, said Bahadori Jahromi.

The last visit by an Iranian president to Russia was in March 2017, when Hassan Rohani, a moderate politician, visited Moscow.

Raisi, a hardliner, took office as president in August 2021.

According to the Kremlin website, the invitation to Rais was extended by Putin earlier this month during a joint press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Russia and Iran have good relations and are key allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whom they have supported during the Syrian civil war.

Russia is also a signatory to the 2015 nuclear deal that Iran reached with world powers. Under the deal, Tehran received sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

Moscow is also participating in talks being held in Vienna aimed at reviving the agreement, after the United States withdrew from the pact in 2018 and reimposed economic sanctions on Iran.

Since the US withdrawal from the agreement, Iran has gradually begun to violate the terms of the agreement, including enriching uranium beyond the limits allowed in the nuclear pact.

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