Russia and Iran are strategic partners in the long term, competition between the countries is possible only in the field of oil and gas trade, Mohammad Bagheri, chief of the General staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, said in an interview with Russia-24 television channel on Tuesday.
"I think in the long run we are strategic and like-minded partners. And if there is going to be competition between us, it's only in the trade of oil and gas, which our countries are so rich in," he said.
"Iran's Supreme leader [Ali Khamenei] has always insisted on expanding cooperation with Russia. Maybe the executive branch did not do everything possible in this direction," Bagheri added, responding to a journalist's question about the nature of cooperation between Russia and Iran.
The Iranian Armed Forces chief of General staff noted that Russia and Iran have repeatedly supported each other on international platforms and hold similar views on the situation in Syria, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Caucasus. "Even if one imagines, although it is unlikely, that we would agree with the US and then abandon Russia, it is unthinkable," he stressed.
Bagheri arrived in Moscow on October 17 on an official visit, where he met with defense minister Sergei Shoigu and held talks with Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian Armed Forces General staff. Bagheri will spend four days in Moscow.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Federation Council
Based on materials from TASS