Treaty on Russian-Iranian strategic partnership 85% ready — Lavrov
TEHRAN, October 23. /TASS/. A treaty on comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and Iran is about 85-percent ready, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.
"The work on a new big treaty is at an advanced stage. I would say that it is 85-percent agreed. Several specific issues are yet to be agreed and negotiations on them are underway," he said after a 3+3 ministerial meeting on the South Caucasus.
"I wouldn’t elaborate on when it will be ready. The outcome has always been more important for us than artificially set deadlines. It applies to this case as well," he added.
According to Lavrov, "what is going on between Palestinians and the Israelis" have no impact of the negotiating process on the big treaty between Russia and Iran.
The 3+3 ministerial meeting on the South Caucasus was held in Tehran on Monday. It was attended by Foreign Ministers Sergey Lavrov of Russia, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian of Iran, Hakan Fidan of Turkey, Ararat Mirzoyan of Armenia, and Jeyhun Bayramov of Azerbaijan. The Georgian side refused to take part.
The initiative for a six-party format of cooperation on the South Caucasus was voiced by Azerbaijani and Turkish Presidents, Ilham Aliyev and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in late 2021. Russia and Iran welcomed the idea. Armenia also joined the format, while Georgia said it did not plant to participate. On December 10, 2021, Moscow hosted the first meeting of the consultative regional platform at the level of deputy foreign ministers. Georgia abstained from the meeting in 2021 as well as from today’s meeting in Tehran at the foreign ministerial level.
