President Putin Underlines Necessity for Consolidation of Ties with Iran

(FNA)- Russian President Veladimir Putin in a meeting with Iranian Supreme Leader's top aide Ali Akbar Velayati emphasized the need for strengthening relations between Tehran and Moscow in different fields.

During the meeting in Moscow on Wednesday, Putin welcomed promotion of mutual cooperation between Iran and Russia.

Velayati, for his part, submitted a message from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to his Russian counterpart.

Velayati and Putin also discussed major bilateral, regional and international issues in an hour-long meeting.

Velayati arrived in Moscow on Wednesday as the special envoy of President Rouhani to submit his message to the Russian leader.

Over the last several years, Iran and Russia have had vast cooperation in different fields, specially in political and economic spheres.

Iran’s Ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanayee announced on Tuesday that Tehran and Moscow have a plan to establish a joint bank to ease bilateral trade through using their national currencies.

“Both Tehran and Moscow are resolved to establish a joint bank, or joint account, in order to pave the ground for using rubles and rials for their commercial interactions,” Sanayee told Ria Novosti in an interview.

The Iranian ambassador added that relations between Moscow and Tehran “are actively developing” and that 2014 was “a very fruitful year” for both countries.

Also on Saturday, Sanayee and Director General of Russia Energy Agency Anatoly Tikhanov discussed new avenues for expanding mutual cooperation in the energy sector.

At the meeting, the two sides stressed the importance of implementing energy cooperation agreements.

Sanayee expressed the hope that the enhancement of energy relations would affect economic relations positively.

Tikhanov, for his part, voiced his country's determination to expand cooperation with all countries of the region given the latest developments in energy market.