MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Developing close relations with Russia remains a foreign policy priority for Iran, Iranian Ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanaei said Wednesday.
"Our relationship is presently developing in all areas, and the current period can be characterized as one of the most important and effective. And the result will be seen for many years," Sanaei stated during a round-table discussion at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies.
The lifting of sanctions against Iran has given new impetus to Iranian-Russian relations and "will become a new basis for their development," he stressed.
"As the Iranian president said last night in an interview, Russia remains and will retain its priority in the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. This is also included in the program of the current government," Sanaei noted.
On Tuesday, top foreign policy adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ali Akbar Velayati said Tehran was ready to develop a strategic partnership with Russia in all spheres of bilateral cooperation.
To increase the intensity of mutual relations, especially in the economic sphere, both Moscow and Tehran should take practical steps, as all the conditions necessary for fruitful cooperation are present, the adviser added.
