Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi shortly after arriving in Tehran on an official visit.
During his two-day trip at the invitation of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Lavrov is scheduled to meet senior Iranian officials to discuss the Iran nuclear deal, Xinhua news agency reported.
Iranian state media said they will also discuss issues concerning Ukraine, Syria and Afghanistan, trade and energy cooperation, as well as expansion of cooperation between Tehran and the regions of Eurasia and Caucasus.
Both Iran and Russia are under US sanctions, which have limited their ability to send their huge energy reserves to global markets. The two countries described their relations as strategic.
Iran signed the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with the world powers in July 2015 accepting to put some curbs on its nuclear program in return for the removal of the sanctions on Tehran.
However, former President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the agreement in May 2018 and reimposed Washington's unilateral sanctions on Tehran, prompting Iran to reduce some of its nuclear commitments under the agreement in retaliation.
Since April last year, several rounds of talks have been held in Vienna between Iran and the remaining JCPOA parties to revive the deal.
Iran insists on obtaining guarantees that the succeeding US governments would not drop the deal again, and calls for lifting the sanctions in a verifiable manner.
Lavrov arrived on Wednesday to discuss with the Iranian side bilateral cooperation and ways to solve the impasse on the Iran nuclear talks.
Having not revealed any details of the meeting between Raisi and the Russian diplomat, the state-run IRIB TV said Lavrov is expected to meet Iran's senior officials to discuss the negotiation that aims to restore a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
The two sides would also discuss situations in Ukraine, Syria, and Afghanistan, as well as ways to boost bilateral ties in trade and energy, it added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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