Iran’s ambassador to Moscow says that the text of a 20-year agreement with Russia has been completed, covering political, security, military, defense and economic cooperation.
Kazem Jalali told a television program Tuesday that that the agreement was prepared with the insistence of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the embassy drafted the text for a final consideration by the foreign ministry in Tehran.
The agreement in fact is the extension of an older pact. Jalali had told reporters on March 12 that the Islamic Republic and the Russian Federation had agreed to extend a cooperation treaty Tehran and Moscow signed 20 years ago during a visit to Moscow by then President Mohammad Khatami.
The original treaty was signed in 2001(link is external) for ten years and was twice automatically renewed, but Russia so far has not announced a renewal this year, despite Iranian overtures. In February, Khamenei sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin to be delivered by parliament speaker Mohammad Ghalibaf, but Putin refused to see him, and he handed over the letter to Russian officials.
Jalali claimed however, that based on Khamenei’s letter and a reply by Putin it was decided to set a 20-year time period for the new agreement. He also claimed that the old agreement has been automatically renewed for five years.
Source » trackpersia