Russia Immediately Signs A Comprehensive Cooperation Pact With Iran

JAKARTA - Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko in an interview published on Tuesday said Russia hopes to sign a new agreement on comprehensive cooperation with Iran "in the near future".

"We hope this agreement will be signed in the near future, as the text work is nearing completion. All necessary words have been found," Rudenko said in an interview with RIA.

Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier this month the construction of the agreement was temporarily suspended. Meanwhile, Iran said there was no pause in preparing for the new pact.

Russia and Iran are known to have signed a 20-year strategic agreement in 2001 which was automatically extended in 2020 for five years, according to a report by the Russian state news agency TASS.

The 2001 pact called for, among other things, cooperation in security, energy projects, including the peaceful use of nuclear energy and the construction of nuclear power plants, industry and technology, according to its text published on the Kremlin website.

Both parties also agreed in 2020 to work on a new pact that would replace the old documents.

Very few details have emerged about what will be included in the new agreement. After Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and subsequent sanctions against Moscow by Kyiv allies, Russia and Iran have strengthened investment, military and energy relations.