TEHRAN — Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says he has spoken with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone for an hour.

In remarks on Wednesday, Zarif said due to Putin’s coronavirus protocol, he spoke on a secure line with the Russian president, IRNA reported.

He said he delivered President Hassan Rouhani’s message, which was about the Iran nuclear deal and some bilateral issues, to Putin.

“It was a constructive conversation, and inshallah it will lead to good outcomes,” the chief Iranian diplomat added. 

Zarif said he had four hours of compact discussions with the Russians on Tuesday afternoon.

Accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi, Zarif traveled to Moscow on Tuesday for talks with senior Russian officials, including his counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

During his meeting with Lavrov, Zarif said Iran-Russia relations are at their strongest in decades, adding that such sustainable ties will benefit both countries and guarantee global peace and security.

Zarif says delivered ‘important’ message to Putin

In a tweet late on Tuesday, Zarif said he delivered an “important” message from President Rouhani to President Putin.

Zarif said he had held extensive talks with Lavrov on bilateral cooperation as well as regional and global coordination, adding that Tehran and Moscow agreed to finalize a long-term comprehensive deal on strategic cooperation.

The top Iranian diplomat said both Tehran and Moscow had “identical views” on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal with major world countries, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and highlighted the need for upholding international law.

The JCPOA was reached between Iran and six world powers — the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, and China plus Germany — in 2015 in Austrian capital, Vienna.

In May 2018, U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled his country out of the JCPOA and later adopted a “maximum pressure” policy against Tehran.

Although it is no longer a party to the deal, the U.S. is currently exerting pressure on the UN Security Council to extend an arms embargo against Iran, which will expire under the JCPOA in October.

Tehran has firmly rejected Washington’s plans, stating that the U.S. is no longer a party to the nuclear deal ever since it withdrew from the multilateral agreement.

China and Russia have supported Iran's position.

MH/PA