A file photo of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (R) and his Russian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says the Iranian and Russian presidents have tasked the top diplomats of the two countries with working out a roadmap for cooperation over the next two decades.

In a televised interview with Iran’s state TV on Wednesday, Amir-Abdollahian elaborated on a three-hour meeting between Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in the Russian capital earlier in the day.

Raeisi and Putin instructed the two countries’ foreign ministers to prepare a 20-year roadmap for long-term cooperation, he said, adding that the topic would be on the agenda of his upcoming meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Earlier, Amir-Abdollahian had said in an article for Russia’ Sputnik news agency that Iran and Russia are determined to update the 20-year cooperation treaty they had signed in 2001. The agreement was originally meant to last four 10 years, but it has twice been extended for five years.

Elsewhere in the interview, Amir-Abdollahian said Raeisi-Putin meeting, which lasted three hours, were held in a friendly and serious climate in accordance with all the health protocols in place in Russia, which is currently grappling with a deadly wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The two presidents, he said, reviewed almost once all the issues of bilateral relations in the fields of politics and strategy, economy, trade, culture, science and technology, private sector trade, and all other topics of common interest, the top Iranian diplomat said.

They also held detailed discussions about regional issues, including the developments in Yemen, and stressed the need to solve the crisis and end the war in the impoverished country through political channels, he added.

He said Raeisi and Putin exchanged views on the roles and capacities of Iran and Russia in promoting peace in different regional states.

The Iranian foreign minister said the two presidents explored ways to step up the fight against unilateralism and promote multilateralism.

The two sides, he added, held detailed talks about the ongoing negotiations between Iran and the P4+1 group of countries in the Austrian capital of Vienna on the removal of US sanctions against Tehran and the revival of the agreement.

Amir-Abdollahian said the Russian president hailed Iran’s rational positions in the Vienna talks.

Based on the principled policy of Iran’s Foreign Ministry, we will act with strength to protect and secure national interests, he said.

Raeisi arrived in Moscow on Wednesday on a two-day strategic visit at the head of a high-ranking delegation at the invitation of his Russian counterpart.

In a meeting with Putin, the Iranian president said there was no hindrance in the way of further expanding relations between the Islamic Republic and the Russian Federation.

He added, Documents of strategic cooperation can outline the horizon of the countries’ relations over 20 years. We are after increasing the volume of commercial ties with Russia and will expend much effort in this area.