TABNAK, Jan 11: The comprehensive cooperation agreement between the two countries, which includes a preamble and 47 articles, covers all areas of bilateral relations and has preserved balance, maintaining independence, and respecting for Iran’s territorial integrity, he said.
Iran and Russia have already signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement approved by the Islamic Consultative Assembly in 2001.
This agreement lasted practically for 20 years and was expired in 2021.
The agreement was automatically renewed for five years, he said, adding it would be automatically extended for 5 years in case of no dispute between the two parties over the deal and that is why it was extended until 2026.
The draft of the new agreement was prepared by Iran and was handed over to the Russian side and this process took about nearly three years and included many amendments Jalali said.
This agreement covers all aspects of bilateral relations, including political relations, economic sphere, provincial cooperation, implementing joint projects and cooperation in bilateral and multilateral formats.
Mutual energy cooperation, international trade and energy, technologies, information security and cyber security are also included in the comprehensive agreement.
Cooperation in the peaceful nuclear energy sector, defense and military issues, combating terrorism, environmental issues and the Caspian Sea, fighting money laundering and organized crime are some of the other provisions of this agreement.
He also referred to the issue of balance in the deal saying, “I think (this issue) has been fully observed in the agreement. Today there are professional legal experts in Iran. On the other hand, today the Islamic Republic of Iran is considered a power.”
“Today, Iran and Russia have convergent views and are partners in many areas, and we are not in a weak position.”
As to the recent positions of some Russian officials about the three Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf the Greater Tunb, the Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa,” he said, “Respect for territorial integrity is included in Article 3 of this agreement, and we expect our partner and friendly countries to respect our territorial integrity.”
