Iran's Rouhani, Russian Defense Minister Meet in Tehran

Bilateral meeting between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu began, according to the presidential press service.

TEHRAN (Sputnik) — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is currently meeting Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in Tehran, the presidential press service told Sputnik on Sunday.

"Just now, a bilateral meeting between the Iranian president and he Russian defense minister began," the press service said.

Earlier in the day, a source in the Russian Embassy in Tehran told Sputnik that Shoigu had arrived in Iran. The official will also meet his Iranian counterpart Hossein Dehghan and other high-ranking officials.

Russia and Iran stepped up military cooperation last year after Tehran reached a deal with the P5+1 group of countries to scale down its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. The agreement took the edge off the UN arms embargo on Iran, allowing for weapons sales to that are to be reviewed by the UN on a case-by-case basis.