Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks during talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Moscow, October 6, 2021

Mr Minister,

Friends,

We are delighted to welcome you to Moscow. Despite the coronavirus pandemic, we continue to maintain an intensive political dialogue at all levels, including between the presidents of our countries. During their last telephone conversations in August and September, they agreed on a number of areas for our future work. Today we are to consider ways to implement those agreements.

A new vector of our cooperation will have to do with Iran's joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) as a full member. A corresponding decision to start the accession process was made at the recent SCO Summit in Dushanbe.

The focus of today’s negotiations will be the need for a full renewal of the Iranian nuclear programme agreement without any exemptions or additions. We would like to discuss how this process can be expedited.

Other topics on our agenda include our interaction in Syria and other regions of the Middle East and North Africa and, importantly, ways to restore normal relations in the Persian Gulf zone.

Your visit to the Russian Federation is very timely. I am quite sure that we will do some useful work here.

Welcome.