Russia sets store by boosting Iran ties

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Alexander Lukashevich, says bolstering bilateral relations with Iran is part of the Kremlin's diplomatic strategy, Press TV reported.

"Maximum expansion of ties with the Islamic Republic [of Iran] is one of Russia's strategies," IRIB quoted the official as saying on Wednesday during his weekly news conference in Moscow.

He said Iran was a neighbor and friend of Russia and the two countries shared a long history of relations.

Lukashevich highlighted Moscow's determination to expend its relations with Tehran and mentioned Russia's assisting the launch of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant in the south of the country.

The September inauguration of the Bushehr nuclear power plant and bilateral collaboration in various fields were examples of the Russo-Iranian cooperation, he stated and conveyed Moscow's satisfaction with the launch.

Iran signed a deal with Russia in 1995, under which the going on stream of the plant was originally scheduled for 1999, but the project was repeatedly delayed.

The plant officially joined Iran's national electricity grid in mid-September, with an initial power generation capacity of 40 percent.