TEHRAN – Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali said that Iran and Russia have decided to review an existing agreement to upgrade their relationship in light of international developments. 

Jalali said the current long-term cooperation agreement between Iran and Russia was approved by the Majlis in 2001. 

This agreement was meant to last for 20 years, and an extension mechanism was built into it, which stipulates that if a party to this agreement did not have a reservation on it one year before its expiration, it would be automatically extended for five years. 

And it has been extended up until 2026. “Nevertheless, the parties believe that according to the developments in the international arena, what was stated in the previous agreement is not at the level of current relations; Therefore, it was agreed at the high level of the leaders of the two countries to update this agreement,” Jalali said in an interview with IRNA. 

The ambassador said Tehran and Moscow have already exchanged drafts of the new agreement. “It was decided that the Islamic Republic of Iran should draft a new comprehensive agreement, which Tehran provided to Moscow after preparing it. The Russian side also presented its point of view, and then we reviewed it, and it went back and forth two or three times, and the last time, the Russian side presented its views and presented us with a draft agreement,” he said. 

He added, “If there is an agreement on the draft at this stage, the agreement will be signed by the foreign ministers of the two countries, and in the final stage, it will go to the parliaments of the two countries for review and approval. If there is a need for further review at the current stage, a joint committee will be formed to resolve possible differences of opinion through negotiations and reach a conclusion.”

Jalali said, “The new agreement between Iran and Russia is a comprehensive agreement in various fields of cooperation, including political, regional, international, economic, security, intelligence, cyber, defense and other fields.”

He also outlined the difference between the Iran-Russia agreement and the 25-year Iran-China plan. 
“As regards the model of cooperation with China, it is a type of joint program that is detailed about the topics and cooperation programs. But in relation to Russia, since the title of the document is an agreement, it must be approved in the parliaments of the two countries,” he said.  “In the new Tehran-Moscow agreement, it is not a secret issue that some are making a fuss about; This agreement will be published in the media because it must be approved by the Islamic Majlis and the Russian Duma.”

Jalali noted, “This agreement will be available to the representatives of the parliaments of the two countries, and the changes and adjustments desired by the parliaments of the two countries will be applied to it.”

According to Jalali, the relations between Iran and Russia today are clear and transparent, and these relations also have enemies. “By monitoring Tehran-Moscow relations, the West seeks to ensure that these relations do not develop in a sustainable manner,” he said.