Iran, Russia vow to jointly tackle unilateral sanctions

On the visit of the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to Moscow to participate in the annual meeting of the foreign ministers of the five littoral states of the Caspian Sea on Tuesday, "the joint statement of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation in order to cooperate on ways and means of countering, reducing and compensating the negative effects and consequences of unilateral coercive measures" was signed by him and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov.

"We have just signed a declaration on ways and means to counteract, mitigate and compensate for the negative consequences of unilateral coercive measures," Lavrov said, according to TASS, as reported by Press TV.

The Russian minister said this was an important step to "overcome the illegal sanctions that the United States and its allies have made as a substitute for diplomacy."

The agreement has officially been titled the Declaration of the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran on ways and means of countering, softening and compensation of negative consequences of unilateral coercion measures, according to a report by Russia’s state-run TASS news agency.

It came after the two ministers and their counterparts from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan attended a regular forum of Caspian Sea littoral states.

Iran and Russia have already made joint efforts to reduce the impacts of Western sanctions on their economies.

Heading an Iranian delegation, Amir-Abdollahian left for Moscow last night to participate in the annual meeting of the foreign ministers of the countries of the Caspian Sea, and upon his arrival in the capital of the Russian Federation, he announced that he would have bilateral meetings with some of his counterparts, including Sergey Lavrov, on the sidelines of the meeting.

President Ebrahim Raeisi is scheduled to visit Moscow on Thursday as well, in response to the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, at the head of a political and economic delegation. This would be Raeisi's second visit to Moscow after assuming the presidency in August 2021.

MNA