Iranian Parliament Head Asks Russia to Increase Agricultural Exports Amid COVID-19

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Speaker of the Iranian parliament, Ali Larijani, has asked the Russian lower house chair, Vyacheslav Volodin, to scale up supplies of agricultural products to Iran during the coronavirus pandemic, the Russian parliament said on its website on Thursday.

"The speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran also asked to increase the supply of agricultural products to Iran and promote inter-regional ties for this purpose," the Russian parliament said.

The two lawmakers held phone talks to discuss sanctions amid the pandemic and the coordinated fight against COVID-19. According to the press release, they have endorsed "the initiative of several countries on the need to lift sanctions and abandon the sanctions policy" at a time when the world is struggling against the outbreak.

Larijani was also cited as expressing gratitude to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the assistance Iran had received from Russia amid the pandemic. He also spoke in favour of advancing Russian-Iranian economic ties and trade.

The possibility of arranging for coordinated work among Russian and Iranian doctors and scientists to counteract the spread of COVID-19 was also discussed, the parliament said.

According to the press release, Volodin and Larijani have agreed to switch all interparliamentary contacts of Russia and Iran to remote mode, but in a way that does not hurt the progress of bilateral relations.