Iran, Russia play key role for lasting peace: Iran MP

Iran and Russia play a leading role in establishing lasting peace in the region, a senior Iranian lawmaker says.

“Given the importance of Iran and Russia in the region, the expansion of political and economic cooperation between the two countries plays a positive role in achieving a balance in the region and establishing sustainable peace and tranquility,” Chairman of the Economic Committee of Iran’s Majlis Arsalan Fathipour said in a meeting with a member of the Russian Duma Dmitry Saveliev in Tehran on Tuesday.

He pointed to the two countries’ potential to improve trade and economic ties and noted that Tehran and Moscow can strengthen relations through bilateral cooperation in the Caspian Sea, exchange of goods and the use of capacities of free zones in northern and northeastern Iran.

The Iranian legislator also commended Russia’s “positive and rational” stance on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear issue.

As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Russia has always defended Iran’s right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Saveliev, for his part, said Iran and Russia share a common stance on many regional and international issues.

He stressed the importance of bolstering economic cooperation.

Iran-Russia trade currently totals USD 5 billion a year, but economists say the two countries can at least quadruple the volume of their trade exchanges.