Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin will pay an official visit to Iran on Monday, where he will hold talks with the republic's leadership — President Masoud Pezeshkian and First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref.
During the talks, the parties plan to discuss the entire range of Russian-Iranian cooperation in trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian areas.
Particular attention will be paid to the implementation of major joint projects in transport, energy, industry, agriculture and other areas.
Russian-Iranian relations are developing in all key areas. Over the past two years, more than two dozen intergovernmental and interdepartmental documents have been concluded in various sectors. Both countries have almost completed internal procedures necessary for signing a new fundamental interstate Treaty on a comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and Iran, which will replace and significantly supplement the current Treaty on the Fundamentals of Relations and Principles of Cooperation between the two countries.
Priority attention is given to building economic ties. Large joint projects are being implemented in the fields of transport infrastructure, nuclear and thermal energy, and the extraction and transportation of hydrocarbons.
In a speech at a meeting of BRICS energy ministers, which was held as part of the Russian Energy Week, Iranian Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi said that the republic intended to develop trade and transit of electricity, and in this regard proposed to connect the energy networks of Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia through it. According to the minister, Tehran has long been studying this issue.
In addition, Iran and Russia plan to begin implementing the North-South International Transport Corridor (ITC) project.
The ITC is a multimodal route from Russia's St. Petersburg to the Indian port of Mumbai with a length of 7,200 kilometers. There are three routes of the ITC: trans-Caspian (using railways and ports), as well as western and eastern (by land). In May 2023, Russia and Iran signed documents to complete the last necessary section of the railway of the western route — Rasht-Astara in Iran. As part of the development of the western route of the corridor, Russia will allocate a state export loan for the construction of a section of the Rasht-Astara railway in Iran, which will ensure "seamless" logistics from the Baltic to the southern Iranian ports. A continuous railway network along its eastern route already exists and is successfully operated.
Interaction in the cultural, humanitarian, and scientific-educational spheres between Russia and Iran is expanding as well. The number of Iranian citizens receiving education in Russian universities is increasing, including on a budgetary basis under a quota allocated by the Russian government. In addition, in July of this year, Iran completed the internal procedures necessary for the entry into force of the intergovernmental agreement on the establishment and conditions of operation of cultural centers. Thus, a legal basis was created for opening a Russian cultural center there. Mutual tourist flow between Russia and Iran has increased significantly due to the implementation of the Agreement on visa-free group tourist trips for citizens of the two countries; in 2024, more than 30,000 Iranian tourists visited Russia and more than 500 Russian tourists visited Iran.