Raisi on High-Profile Visit to Russia

President Ebrahim Raisi is set to leave for Moscow on Wednesday where he is scheduled to meet his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
The trip, which is Raisi’s third official visit abroad since taking office in August 2021, is made at Putin’s invitation in line with efforts to boost economic, political and cultural ties, President.ir reported. 
Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Oil Minister Javad Owji and Economy Minister Ehsan Khandouzi will accompany the president.
During his two-day stay, Raisi will meet Iranian expatriates in Russia and hold consultative meetings with Russian business people. 
He will also address a meeting of the Russian State Duma lower house of parliament on Thursday. 
In an article for Sputnik ahead of the visit, Amir-Abdollahian emphasized that the new Iranian administration sees Russia as a powerful neighbor and a friend on the basis of cooperation, respect and mutual interests and is willing to create a meaningful surge in the exchange of top-level delegations in all sectors.
“The two countries’ consultations include a vast range of subjects at bilateral, regional and international levels,” he wrote. 
At bilateral level, the two countries’ cooperation encompasses economic, trade, industrial, agricultural, security, parliamentary and military sectors among others, he added. 
Shared efforts toward restoring peace in Syria, Yemen, Libya and Afghanistan are also examples of the Tehran-Moscow collaboration at regional level, according to the foreign minister. 
At international level, Iran and Russia work together against the United States’ unilateral and inhumane sanctions and western intervention in other countries’ domestic affairs, while preventing third parties from interfering in their own mutual ties, he said. 
Amir-Abdollahian underlined that strengthening such ties and creation of new regional blocs with the participation of other important and emerging Asian players bode well for the improvement and consolidation of multilateral processes at global level.

Nuclear Talks  

On Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Putin and his Iranian counterpart would take inventory of the entire bilateral agenda during Raisi’s upcoming visit.
The two presidents will discuss a “whole range of issues of bilateral cooperation,” according to Kremlin, including the 2015 nuclear deal and ongoing efforts in Vienna, Austria, to revive it. 
The landmark agreement, which was signed by Iran, Russia, China, France, Germany, Britain and the United States, went out of shape after Washington quit unilaterally and Iran rolled back on its commitments in response to the reimposed American sanctions.
Russians, along with other remaining parties, are shuttling between Iran and the US in Vienna to work out how both sides can return to full compliance with the accord, formally called the Joint Comprehensive plan of Action. 
“Russia has had an effective and constructive role both in reaching the 2015 nuclear agreement and in Iran’s recent negotiations with the P4+1 [remaining JCPOA parties], and has taken positive steps to help revoke the sanctions,” Amir-Abdollahian said in his article.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier this month noted “real progress” in the talks.