Moscow, IRNA – The Iranian and Russian presidents have decided to sign the comprehensive cooperation agreement in a bilateral meeting, Iran’s Ambassador to Moscow Kazem Jalali said, dismissing speculations that the deal would be inked in the forthcoming BRICS meeting in Tartarstan.

Tehran and Moscow agreed to sign the document in a separate meeting from the BRICS summit as the latter may overshadow the glory of such a signing ceremony, Jalali told IRNA on Friday.

Iran and Russia are determined to finalize the cooperation agreement in a bilateral meeting in the future, the ambassador added.

He explained that the finalization of the agreement, on which Iranian and Russian officials have been working for three years, was delayed after the martyrdom of former Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in northwest Iran in May.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian visited Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, on Friday and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time since he took office in July.

In the meeting, Pezeshkian expressed hope that the signing ceremony of the comprehensive agreement would be held soon.

Putin, too, invited his Iranian counterpart to visit Russia to have bilateral talks.

The two presidents’ meeting was held on the sidelines of the International Forum “Interconnection of Times and Civilizations – Basis of Peace and Development” in the Turkmen capital on Friday.

Also, Russia as a rotating chairman of the BRICS -- Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and Iran -- is to host the bloc of the emerging economies’ summit in Kazan, Tatarstan -- the developed region of Russia located in the Volga Federal District – on October 22-24.

Iran joined the BRICS as a full member in January 2024.

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