The envoy, Ali Akbar Velayati, is a former foreign minister of the Islamic Republic.
During his visit to Tehran on January 27-28, Ivanov met with Ali Khameini, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani and Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
The sides discussed bilateral issues, including the construction of a nuclear power plant in Bushehr, southern Iran, and the international situation surrounding Iran's nuclear problem.
Russia is building Iran's first nuclear power plant under a $1 billion contract signed in 1995. The plant is scheduled to be commissioned in the second half of 2007, after the original date at the end of 2006 was put off.
The Bushehr facility has been a source of international dispute, with the United States and other Western countries raising concerns that Iran may use the project as part of a covert weapons program. Iran has consistently denied that its nuclear program has military goals.
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution in December imposing sanctions against Iran.
Russia, a key economic partner of Iran, has consistently supported the country's right to nuclear power under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and resisted harsh sanctions.
