TEHRAN – Mohammad Mokhber, Iran’s First-Vice President, has underlined the need to accelerate the implementation of agreements signed between Iran and Russia. 

Mokhber made the remarks during a meeting with the Russian president's special envoy Igor Levitin. In the meeting, the first-vice president expressed satisfaction with the deepening of relations between the two countries and the recent trips of the delegations.

He said negotiations conducted during the recent visits by the governor of the Russian Central Bank and the Russian transport minister to Iran were positive. “Positive steps have been taken to remove banking barriers and develop transit lines,” he continued, according to IRIB News. 

The first-vice president emphasized the need to follow up and implement the agreements between Tehran and Moscow as soon as possible.

“The existing problems in the construction of power plants, the implementation of the joint energy cooperation agreement and the development of oil fields should be removed with orders and diligent follow-ups. The implementation of joint plans and mutual agreements should be accelerated,” Mokhber suggested. 

He also noted the necessity of developing cooperation between Iran and Russia in various fields, especially in industrial, energy, commercial and scientific areas. 

“To use all transportation and transit capacities, we must try to develop our ports and put mixed and multimodal transportation on our agenda. In this regard, it is necessary to speed up the establishment of a joint shipping company and also to develop cooperation in the air sector,” the Iranian official continued. 

Underlining the importance of the North-South corridor, Mokhber said, “Russian companies should use the opportunity to invest in the Makran coast and implement port infrastructure projects and logistics centers in the North-South corridor. Considering the reception and follow-up of some neighboring countries and extra-regional countries, the speed of decision-making is of fundamental importance.”

In the meeting, the Russian official expressed his gratitude and satisfaction with the progress of the implementation of plans and contracts between Tehran and Moscow. “The Russian government has made every effort to remove the obstacles and implement the agreements between the two countries as quickly as possible,” he said. 

Levitin added, “The deepening and development of cooperation in the last two years shows the will and closeness of the two nation-states. We are determined that transit, energy, medical and scientific memorandums and agreements will be fully finalized and operational.

It should be noted that this meeting was the sixth of its kind between Levitin and Mokhber over the last nine months.

An agreement for the construction of Iran’s Rasht-Astara railway was signed in May between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia in a ceremony attended by the presidents of the two countries via video conference.

The agreement was signed with the aim of completing the International North-South Transit Corridor (INSTC). The Russian Federation will invest 1.6 billion euros in this railway route. 

Back in January, Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash met with the Russian president's special envoy Igor Levitin to review the progress in railway cooperation between the two countries and stressed accelerating the development of INSTC.