Iranian, Russian Defense Ministers Discuss Military CooperationRussian Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev and Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani held talks Wednesday on military cooperation, security and regional and international issues of common concern, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported."Military cooperation between Tehran and Moscow will be in line with all international regulations and serve the national interests of both countries," Shamkhani said after the meeting. He said that Sergeyev's visit will open a new page in bilateral relations based on national interests, adding that the Iranian- Russian cooperation will help bring peace and stability to the Central Asian and Caucasian regions. For his part, Sergeyev said that his visit was mainly aimed at consolidating friendship between the two countries and bringing peace and stability to the region. "Our talks mainly centered on geopolitical, geo-strategical and geo-economical grounds within the framework of serving the Russian and Iranian national interests," he said. Sergeyev arrived here on Tuesday for a three-day visit, the first by a Russian defense minister since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. The visit came amid opposition from the United States, which has threatened to impose economic sanctions on Russia after Moscow announced in November to scrap a five-year-old secret deal with Washington to cease arms shipments to Iran. Washington accused Tehran of trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction and has kept long-time unilateral sanctions on Iran, with which it severed relations in 1980. Russia has sought to allay Washington's fears for the resumption of arms deals between Moscow and Tehran, saying that it would not help Iran manufacture weapons of mass destruction under any circumstances. Sergeyev, who headed a high-level military delegation, also held talks with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and Commander-in- Chief of the Iranian Army Mohammad Salimi on Wednesday, IRNA reported. He also visited Iran's Aerospace Industries Organization and familiarized himself with Iran's rocket production problems and technology of production of portable and stationary short-range missiles. Meanwhile, the news agency quoted Leonid Ivashov, head of international cooperation at the Russian Defense Ministry, as saying that Russia is ready to supply Tehran with spare parts for Soviet-made equipments. The official said, however, that no missile technology supplies were being considered during Sergeyev's visit. According to Ivashov, the Russian-Iranian talks on Wednesday focused on international security issues as well as the building of a multi-polar world. He said that no military cooperation documents were expected to be signed during the Russian defense minister's visit, but the two sides would sign a working protocol on the result of the meetings. |
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