Russian Defense Minister, Top Iranian General Talk on ‘Strengthening Strategic Partnership’
© Sputnik / Министерство обороны РФ / Go to the mediabankRussian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri (left) at the welcoming ceremony at Tehran airport.
© Sputnik / Министерство обороны РФ
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Russian and Iranian relations have bloomed in recent years, building on their joint targeting by Western sanctions, but also their common membership in several regional pacts on trade, security, and other types of cooperation that are steadily de-centering the West in Asian affairs.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu met with the top officer of the Iranian Armed Forces, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, in Tehran on Tuesday. The two military officials discussed the positive and dynamic development of Moscow-Tehran relations in the military sphere, which have included weapons sales and training.
“Today, we have an opportunity to discuss in detail topical issues of bilateral military cooperation,” he said, adding that “Iran is Russia’s strategic partner in the Middle East.”
“I consider our meeting as another step towards strengthening the strategic partnership between Russia and Iran,” Shoigu told Bagheri, who is chief of general staff for the Iranian armed forces.
However, they also discussed pressing issues of the day, with the recent outbreak of hostilities between Azerbaijan and Armenia, both neighbors of Russia and Iran, at the top of the agenda. The situations in Syria, where Russia and Iran have cooperated with the Syrian government to crush Daesh* and al-Qaeda** aligned terrorist groups, and Afghanistan, where the disastrous US withdrawal in 2021 led to the Taliban*** returning to power.
© Sputnik / Министерство обороны РФ / Go to the mediabankRussian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri (left) at the welcoming ceremony at Tehran airport. The image is a handout provided by a third party.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri (left) at the welcoming ceremony at Tehran airport. The image is a handout provided by a third party.
© Sputnik / Министерство обороны РФ
/ Last month, the BRICS group, of which Russia is a member, agreed to admit several new nations as members, including Iran. Last year, Iran also joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO, or Shanghai Pact), a Eurasian bloc that includes Russia, China, India, and several other nations across the continent. Both developments promise to bode well for Russia, which has a population of 143 million, and Iran, with a population of 90 million.
The two days of talks, which are to include other top Iranian military officials as well, will also concern issues such as education and the exchange of experience, the exchange of delegations, and joint naval exercises.
These are just the latest meetings between Russian and Iranian officials as relations between the two states have bloomed in recent years. Economic and cultural ties have also grown, including cooperation on the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a rail line connecting Russia and Iran via Azerbaijan, and careful negotiations over the equitable sharing of natural resources beneath the Caspian Sea.
18 September 2023, 19:07 GMT
*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia and many other states.
**Al-Qaeda and al-Nusra Front (Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham) are terrorist organizations banned in Russia and many other countries.
***The Taliban is a terrorist organization under UN sanctions