TEHRAN – In their bilateral meeting in Baku on Monday Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Russian President Vladimir Putin said it is necessary to expand nuclear cooperation and implement the JCPOA precisely.

Rouhani said Iran “welcomes expansion of ties” with Moscow and called for investment in Iranian energy projects by Russian and other international corporations.

The meeting between Putin and Rouhani took place on the sidelines of a trilateral summit between Russia, the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Iran. 

“The Baku summit lays the ground to boost regional cooperation and that would help strengthen stability and security in the region,” Rouhani said.

Elsewhere, Rouhani said that Russia has played a “constructive” and “positive” role in implementing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

He also praised the “constructive” role of Russia during two years of nuclear talks which involved Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. 

Commenting on fighting terrorism, Rouhani said there is a “good cooperation” between Iran and Russia in this respect which should be continued until restoration of peace and stability to Syria.

The Russian president, for his part, called for expanding relations.

Putin said the Iranian officials’ “seriousness” has led to expansion of ties during past months.

In his speech to the trilateral summit on Monday, the Iranian president said, “Since the three neighboring countries, for various reasons, particularly their geostrategic situation, share a wide range of concerns, opportunities, challenges, and face some common threats in political, economic, cultural, technological, and environmental domains, interaction and cooperation between them becomes a necessity felt more than any time else.” 

NA/PA