TEHRAN – Ali Bagheri Kani, the Iranian deputy foreign minister for political affairs, has said that Iran and Russia have agreed to set up mechanisms for bolstering their ties.

Bagheri Kani visited Moscow on Friday and met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Ryabkov. 

“The relations between Iran and Russia have not been and are not limited only to the issue of Syria. Tehran and Moscow have very good cooperation with each other in the Caucasus region, and the 3+3 framework is a very good model for regional security in the Caucasus region,” Bagheri Kani said in remarks about his Moscow visit. 

The Iranian deputy foreign minister also mentioned the addition of Russia to the meeting of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighboring countries at the suggestion of Iran.

Iran’s presidential envoy for Afghanistan recently said that Tehran is planning to hold a big international meeting on Afghanistan at the level of foreign ministers.

Speaking at the Moscow Format meeting on Afghanistan, Hassan Kazemi Qomi said, “Iran is planning to hold a big meeting on Afghanistan at the level of foreign ministers in the near future in order to contribute to the improvement and stability of Afghanistan.”

He also said that what is happening in Afghanistan is the result of 20 years of American occupation of Afghanistan, according to IRNA. 

“Time passes very quickly and if we fail to manage the situation in Afghanistan, the situation will get worse,” he said at the meeting. 

Qomi said the formation of an all-inclusive government in Afghanistan will facilitate the recognition of the country. 

The Moscow Format includes Russia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Bagheri Kani said the issue of Afghanistan constitutes a good regional area of cooperation between Tehran and Moscow. “The issue of Afghanistan is also a very good area of regional cooperation between Iran and Russia for security in this country, especially when the Westerners have ended their so-called objective presence in Afghanistan,” he said, according to IRNA. 

Commenting on the details of his visit to Russia, Bagheri Kani said, “In the meeting with their counterparts in Russia, the two sides once again reviewed Tehran-Moscow relations in the past few months and estimated the situation in the new period. And based on this, we also built frameworks and mechanisms to promote relations with agreement.”

He added, “Such interactions between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Iran and neighboring countries will both create a platform for the development of relations and strengthen relations in various fields, especially economic ones.”

Mikhail Ulyanov, the Russian ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, said Bagheri Kani and Ryabkov discussed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“Deputy heads of Foreign Ministries of #Russia and #Iran Mr. S. Ryabkov and Dr. A. Bagheri Kani met today in Moscow to discuss the prospects of full-scale implementation of the #JCPOA,” Ulyanov said. 

Earlier on Tuesday, Bagheri Kani had traveled to the Qatari capital Doha, where he discussed the JCPOA with his Qatari counterpart Mohammad al-Khulaifi. 

Iranian media reported that Bagheri Kani, who has been Iran’s top nuclear negotiator in the Vienna talks over reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, discussed bilateral, regional, and international issues.

Upon his arrival, Bagheri Kani met with his Qatari counterpart, Mohammad al-Khulaifi. In the meeting, the two senior diplomats discussed bilateral, regional, and international issues.

The Qatari foreign ministry said the two diplomats also discussed the JCPOA. “During the meeting, they discussed bilateral cooperation between the two countries and ways to support and develop them, in addition to discussing the latest developments in the negotiations of the return to the joint action plan, as well as several regional and international issues of joint interest,” the Qatari foreign ministry said in a statement.

Talks in Vienna over reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal have been at a standstill for months. And U.S. officials have said that they are no longer focused on reviving the JCPOA. 

On the other hand, Iran has said that it is ready for diplomacy and called on the West to refrain from exploiting other non-nuclear issues to extract concessions from Iran in the nuclear talks.