MOSCOW/DUBAI. Feb 8 (Interfax) - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei underlined the strategic nature of Tehran-Moscow relations in a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said on Monday.
"The most important part of this visit [to Moscow] was [conveying] the Leader of the Islamic Revolution's message to Mr. Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, in which emphasis has been put on the strong and strategic nature of relations between Iran and Russia so that no political change in the world and unilateral approaches can affect those relations," the Iranian television channel Press TV quoted Qalibaf as telling reporters in Moscow.
Iran and Russia share approaches to a number of issues, including regional problems and the need to seek peace in the region, he said.
"Tehran and Moscow have also common stances on regional and global security and peace as well as the fight against the cruel sanctions [imposed by the West] against the two countries," the top Iranian parliamentarian said.
Qalibaf met with Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin on Monday.
They discussed preparations for a meeting of the High-Level Commission of the Russian and Iranian parliaments that may take place in Iran in the middle of this year. Businesspeople and representatives of the executive branch of government are expected to attend it as well. Volodin, in turn, reiterated the need to restore trade ties as soon as possible in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and spoke against sanctions, trade wars, and double standards.
Russian Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said earlier that Qalibaf would meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev in Moscow on Tuesday.