TEHRAN — In a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi of Iran referred to their last year’s meeting in the Kremlin, saying, “After this meeting, significant progress was made in relations between the two countries.”

He then said that the pursuit of agreements and the travel of high-ranking delegations between the two countries has provided the ground for the development of cooperation and coordination in various bilateral, regional and international areas.

Raisi added that the cooperation and coordination between of independent countries will ensure the collective interest at regional and international levels and will neutralize the illegal pressures and actions of Western countries.

Elsewhere in his phone call, Raisi expressing hope that the conflict in Ukraine would come to an end as soon as possible. Stressing the importance of a diplomatic solution to the war, the president said Iran is ready to help Moscow and Kyiv to diplomatically settle the conflict, which has entered its fourth month.

The president also talked about Iran’s nuclear program with the Russian leader. The conversation came on the same day that the IAEA Board of Governors adopted a resolution against Iran. 

“We have fulfilled our obligations under the nuclear deal, and now is the time for the United States to make a decision,” he said, noting that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has repeatedly confirmed that there has been no diversion in Iran's nuclear activities.

Raisi further emphasized that regardless of international developments, Iran seeks to deepen and stabilize its comprehensive relations with “independent countries”.

Referring to regional developments, the president also called terrorism and various forms of occupation as two sides of a coin. 

In this regard, the two sides stressed the success of the model of strategic cooperation between the two countries in the fight against terrorism, the continuation of cooperation and increased coordination in the West Asian region and the South Caucasus.

In the conversation, Russian President Putin also expressed condolences over the train accident in Iran and said the two countries are actively working to develop and increase economic and trade cooperation. 

He then referred to the increased level of cooperation by 80%, saying, “We are interested in increasing cooperation in the fields of banking, transit, energy and agriculture.”

Referring to the importance of Iran's presence and role in regional and international cooperation organizations, including the Eurasian Economic Union and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Putin said Iran's presence and role in regional and international organizations is in the interest of all countries and Russia supports it.

During the meeting, the Russian president also talked about the political and military developments in Ukraine.

Referring to the ill-intentioned efforts of the United States and its European allies in the IAEA, Putin said, “We believe that their actions will not help resolve the current issues, and Russia’s position is to oppose such actions.”

The IAEA board’s resolution was drafted by the U.S. and the European trio of France, Britain and Germany. Russia and China voted against the resolution.