Iran, Russia deputy FMs discuss ties, regional issues

TEHRAN, Feb. 15 (MNA) – Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia-Pacific Affairs Ebrahim Rahimpour and his Russian counterpart Igor Margulov on Tuesday discussed expansion of Tehran-Moscow ties and regional issues. Iran’s Ambassador to Moscow Mehdi Sanaie was also present in the meeting. During the talks, the two sides expressed satisfaction with the expansion of all-out relations in various political, economic, regional and international fields and evaluated as positive the 80 percent increase in trade turnover and stressed the continuation of the current trend. The talks also focused on agreements to be signed between Iranian and Russian officials during trips of senior officials of the two countries in the coming months. They also touched on the positive outcomes of the joint fight against terrorism in the region, especially in Syria, calling the cooperation an objective evidence of deep and lasting relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation. They expressed willingness to further develop cooperation in the field of combating extremists and terrorists. Rahimpour who is in Moscow to participate in the Moscow conference on Afghanistan, will meet with other senior officials of Russia .