Salehi lauds Iran-Russia ties

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has praised the friendly relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Russia, Press TV reported.

Upon his arrival at Moscow's airport late on Tuesday, Salehi told reports that Iran and Russia are two big neighbors, adding that Iran is a safe neighbor for Russia, IRNA reported.

Salehi is in Moscow at the helm of a political delegation for a two-day visit upon the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

The Iranian foreign minister is scheduled to hold talks with his Russian counterpart on Wednesday on the latest regional developments and international issues.

Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Tuesday that Salehi and Russian officials will also discuss the details of the launch of Iran's nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr

Earlier on Tuesday, Salehi received visiting Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev in the Iranian capital of Tehran where he described Russia's move to establish closer relations with Iran as the "herald of deeper and long-lasting bilateral ties."

Patrushev also met with Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Saeed Jalili in Tehran. During the meeting, the two sides discussed regional and international developments as well as Moscow's "step-by-step" proposal regarding Iran's nuclear program.

On July 13, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov proposed a new "step-by-step" approach toward Iran's nuclear program that would enable the Islamic Republic to take steps to address questions raised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The approach would start out with the easiest questions and move on to more complicated ones that would require a longer time for a response, according to Lavrov.

Iran says that according to the modality plan agreed by the Islamic Republic and the IAEA in 2007, the agency should close Iran's nuclear case since Tehran has addressed and resolved all issues of concern.


/Trend/