Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will hold talks with Vladimir Putin during a visit to Russia next month to attend the BRICS summit, an Iranian government spokeswoman said Tuesday.
The visit to the BRICS summit in the Tatarstan capital of Kazan from Oct. 22 to 24 will be Pezeshkian’s first to Russia since he took office in late July.
The group of countries takes its name from the initial letters of the five members who joined in 2009 — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — but has since expanded to include some Middle Eastern countries, including Iran.
“The president will visit the Russian Federation and participate in the BRICS summit,” Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani told reporters. He “will also hold bilateral meetings with the president of Russia,” she added.
Mohajerani said a “strategic partnership agreement” between Iran and Russia “is almost finalized,” without elaborating.
Russia and Iran, both of which face sweeping Western sanctions, have forged strong ties in various sectors, including military cooperation. The latest sanctions targeting Iran’s aviation sector were imposed over its alleged supply of ballistic missiles to Russia for use in its war in Ukraine.
Tehran has denied the Western allegations and described sanctions as a “failed tool.”
