Iran-Russia provincial cooperation working group meeting held in Moscow

The meeting was co-chaired by Mehdi Doosti, Deputy Interior Minister for Coordination and Regional Development, and Vladimir Ilichev, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.

Referring to Iran’s principled policy in expanding the trade relations of border provinces with neighboring countries, particularly its northern provinces with Russia, Doosti proposed the establishment of a permanent secretariat for this working group to follow up on the implementation of agreements.

He stressed prioritizing economic and trade cooperation between the two countries and elaborated on the existing challenges in monetary and banking relations, legal issues, and standards as significant obstacles to the development of cooperation between the two countries.

He also underlined Iran’s policy of expanding long-term and sustainable cooperation with the Russian Federation.

Meanwhile, Ilichev pointed to an %8.2 growth in the value of trade exchanges between the two countries in the first nine months of 2025 compared to the same period last year.

He welcomed the proposal to establish a permanent secretariat for the working group.

In the meantime, Iran’s Ambassador in Russia Kazem Jalali described the comprehensive strategic treaty between the two countries as an important step in the developing Iran-Russia relations./irna