"For more than four decades, the Western states' pressures have been on the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the current Russian sanctions have made everyone understand that Moscow-Tehran cooperation is important," Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin made the remarks in a message to the international conference "Russian-Iranian cooperation in the changing world" which was held in Moscow on Wednesday with the participation of the head of the Center for Political and International Studies of the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Russia, as well as a group of Russian experts and officials active in the field of bilateral cooperation.
"Today, Russia and Iran pursue an independent foreign policy in the world and have close cooperation against countries that seek superiority and try to secure their interests unilaterally," the Russian legislator added.
Elsewhere in his message, Volodin referred to decades of cooperation between Iran and Russia in the field of peaceful nuclear energy and the construction and operationalization of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in the south of Iran and said, "Although bilateral trade has doubled over the past years, it has not increased to the desired and suitable level in accordance with the capacities and potentials of the two countries."
Konstantin Fyodorovich Zatulin, first deputy chairman of the committee of the State Duma for the CIS and relations with Russian nationals abroad read out the Duma chairman's message in the conference.
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