TEHRAN — Head of the Iran-Russia parliamentary friendship group has said that during the trip of President Ebrahim Raisi to Moscow an agreement was reached with Russia to approve a long-term 20-year cooperation document.

Ebrahim Rezaei said the details of the agreement must be negotiated and all matters will be made public.

President Raisi visited Moscow on Wednesday and Thursday. He held high-profile talks with President Vladmir Putin and addressed the Russian State Duma.
 
According to Rezaei, the president's visit to Russia was not a one-dimensional one, and various issues were discussed during the visit. 

Iran-Russia trade exchanges, regional and international issues were important topics of talks during the visit, Rezaei said.
 
“The highlight of the trip was Ayatollah Raisi's three-hour talks with Putin. In these negotiations, as far as I know, most of the discussions were related to economic issues, although regional and international issues were also discussed,” he added.

He then went on to say that on Thursday morning, a very effective and important meeting was held with Russian economic operators at the presence of Raisi. 

“The meeting was attended by Russia's largest economic companies operating in various sectors of oil and gas, petrochemicals, industry, tourism, medicine and mining, and they announced their readiness to cooperate with Iran. These people were the main economic figures of Russia, and I think the president's joint meeting with these companies was very important and groundbreaking,” Rezaei noted. 

The MP then went on to say that prior to the president’s visit to Russia, the ministers of economy and oil, and the deputy minister of transport and a number of state officials visited Russia, and important economic and political talks were held with Russian officials. 

“In fact, the goal of these talks was to facilitate important formal agreements when Ayatollah Raisi arrived in Russia,” he added.

Rezaei then went on to say that Iran has reached good agreements with Russia for development of oil fields. 

“The Minister of Oil is the Chairman of the Joint Commission of Iran and Russia and made great efforts to conclude these agreements. In the monetary and banking spheres, successful negotiations were held to break the dollar monopoly and remove the dollar from the two countries' economic exchanges. This year, the trade volume between Iran and Russia was about $4 billion. During this trip, it was agreed to increase the volume of trade between Iran and Russia to $10 billion,” he noted.

He then said that a good agreement was also signed during the trip for the exchange of agricultural products. 

“Iran currently exports good fruits and vegetables to Russia and imports wheat from Russia. It was decided to meet our needs such as wheat from this country in exchange for exporting agricultural products to Russia,” Rezaei stressed.

According to the legislator, in the field of transport, detailed talks were held with Russian officials. He said, “Connecting the North-South corridor was an important issue. The connection of the Persian Gulf to Europe must be done through Iran. The land and railroads of this corridor should be completed as soon as possible. Agreements were also reached in the field of maritime transport. The best, safest and cheapest route of communication between Iran and Russia is the sea route, which does not need to cross any third country.”

“In recent years, we have had problems in the countries on the exchange route to Russia, and with this action, all obstacles are removed. In this regard, I, along with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, had good talks with the Chairman of the International Relations Committee of the Russian Duma, in which this issue was emphasized, and we hope that this problem will be resolved in the near future,” Rezaei explained.

The MP then went on to say that the agreements signed during the visit, if implemented, will have a direct impact on the economic and living conditions of the people and the lifting of sanctions. 

“The two countries have a strong will to implement bilateral agreements. Also during this trip, good agreements were made for Iran to join the Eurasian Union. Russia plays an important role in trade with the Eurasian region and the Eurasian Union Headquarters is in Russia,” he said.

He then went on to explain why it is important for Iran to join the Eurasian Union. 

“If we become a permanent member of Eurasian Union, we can get exemptions and concessions. Benefit from this great trade union. The Eurasian Union's annual trade volume is $200 billion, and if only 10% of the market is provided to Iran, Iran will receive $20 billion in annual trade,” the expert said, adding there is a mechanism that needs to be followed.

“The agreement on Iran's membership in Eurasian Union must be submitted to the parliament and approved so that the government can negotiate for permanent membership in the Eurasian Union,” he suggested. 

Rezaei went on to venture guesses about the pro-Western movements, saying they are not happy with the policy of looking to the East of Iran. 

“When in power, they distanced themselves significantly from the Eastern bloc to gain Western approval, which they did not succeed in doing,” the legislator remarked. 
He then said that the Western media is advancing U.S. policies and seeking to destroy Iran-Russia relations. 

“Experience has shown that the rapprochement of Iran and Russia is extremely detrimental to Western interests in the region. An example was in Syria. The United States acted as Daesh’s air force in Syria. The cooperation of Iran and Russia in Syria, together with the bravery of General Soleimani and his friends, led to Iran's success in the fight against terrorism. In fact, Iran and Russia prevented the United States and the West from achieving their goals. However, the United States has seen this successful experience of cooperation between Iran and Russia, and it is natural that by using its media army with creating fuss and controversy, seeks to downplay the president's visit to Russia and undermine it so that the main goals of this trip be portrayed as less valuable. I emphasize that the president's visit to Russia was a strategic trip in line with national interests. The fact that Mr. Raisi has chosen Russia as his destination for his first bilateral visit shows that the government is determined to neutralize the sanctions and overcome U.S. unilateralism,” Rezaei analyzed. 

Rezaei then explained that the Iran-Russia agreement is not secret. 

He added that the ministers provided detailed information about the agreements, although some of the Russian companies involved in the deal may not be named, as they may be subject to U.S. sanctions, but the provisions of the Iran-Russia agreement have been made clear to the public.

“During the trip, a 20-year long-term agreement was agreed with Russia. The details of this agreement must be negotiated and all matters will be made public in a transparent manner. According to the constitution, any foreign agreement must be approved by the Majlis (parliament), so the 20-year agreement between Iran and Russia must also be approved by the Majlis and be clearly announced to the people,” he reiterated.

Regarding the agreements with Russia to build a new power plant in Iran, he said that Iran owes money to Russia, and agreements were made to pay this debt. 
“Also, units two and three of the Bushehr power plant are being built with the cooperation of the Russians, each of which will produce 1,000 megawatts of electricity, which will increase the power generation capacity of Iran's nuclear power plant to 3,000 megawatts. During this trip, good negotiations were held to finance these projects,” he explained

Units two and three of the Bushehr power plant are being built with the cooperation of the Russians. 

He also said Iran and Russia have reached agreement in the field of aerospace and aerospace industries.

Iran won’t wait for Vienna talks

Regarding the Vienna talks to revitalize the 2015 nuclear deal, he said that there is good cooperation between Iran and Russia in Vienna and the role of the Russians in the talks is constructive. 

“This trip will strengthen Russia's position in the Vienna talks in favor of Iran,” he assured.

Rezaei went on to say that the message of the trip to the United States and Europe is that Iran is not suspending the 2015 nuclear pact and the agreements reached in Vienna. 

“Iran has reached and concluded important agreements with major countries such as China and Russia. The government has acted on its slogan that we will not wait for the talks, which is the most important message to the Europeans and the Americans,” he reiterated.