Will Russia extend a lifeboat to troubled Iran?
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov paid a visit to Tehran to hold talks with his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif.
The two FMs discussed a wide range of regional and
international issues, especially the agreement over Iran's nuclear program,
Syria, Yemen and Afghanistan. They also discussed economic cooperation between
Iran and Russia.
The two ministers signed an agreement on the work of
cultural centers in the two countries, according to Iran's ambassador in
Moscow.
He said the agreement was important for cultural
cooperation between the two countries.
The Iranian diplomat noted that Russia and Iran faced
the same challenges at the international level.
The two countries, he added, need this rapprochement
to solve common problems.
Against sanctions
Lavrov said sanctions imposed by the European Union on
the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corpse would jeopardize talks on Iran's nuclear
file that would be held in Vienna later this year.
Russian efforts
Iranian affairs specialist Masoud Ibrahim Hassan said
Lavov's visit to Iran acquires special importance, especially in the light of
the latest attack on an Iranian nuclear facility in Natanz.
Iran, he said, accused the United States and Israel of
carrying out the attack.
"Moscow is also apparently trying to use the
ongoing tensions between Iran and the United States in forming a grouping
against the United States in the region," Hassan told The Reference.
He noted, however, that the fact that Russia is not
concerned about Iranian nuclear activities is strange.
The Iranian nuclear program, he said, would affect the
Caucuses region in the future.
