Tehran, Iran, November 1
By Mehdi Sepahvand -- Trend:
An Iranian scholar and official has said that if Iran has a powerful country like Russia by its side, it will act as a deterrent against the United States.
The growing ties between Iran and Russia is a sort of peaceful coexistence to form a more powerful union against the US, Macroeconomics Secretary of the Expediency Council Jamshid Pajooyan told Trend on November 1.
Earlier in the day, Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Mehdi Sanaei said a new era of Iran-Russia relations has begun.
On October 16, the diplomat said Russia's Energy Minister, Alexander Novak, who was preparing to visit Iran, was to discuss ways of increasing bilateral trade, with the annual turnover between Russia and Iran expected to increase from the current $2 billion to $10 billion.
The improvement in Iran-Russia ties is politically oriented in the first place, Pajooyan noted.
In recent months, a number of political and economic delegations have been exchanging visits.
Russia is also Iran's major supporter in its nuclear dispute with the Western powers.
On the other hand, after the fall of the USSR, Russia has been relatively outside the politico-economic arenas in the world, while it used to be the second pole in world economics and power, Pajooyan added.
"One way for Russia to redeem its past position is to approach countries that are not on good terms with the US. This is why it has improved ties with Iran. Now oil, gas, and nuclear deals are benefiting both sides in that regard," Pajooyan stated.