British Parliament Weighs Proscription Of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards

“Documents of strategic cooperation can outline the horizons of the [two countries’] relations over 20 years,” President Ebrahim Raisi said after his meeting with Vladimir Putin and presenting the draft.

Iranian officials had for months said preparations for the agreement had been finalized and it would be signed soon when the two presidents met, but last week they said more preparations were required.

Raisi, who arrived in the Russian capital for a state visit at Putin’s invitation, also underlined that his government faces no limitation for expansion and development of ties with the Russian Federation.

"Interaction between Iran and Russia in the region will undoubtedly ensure security and prevent unilateralism. Russia and we are members of many economic and political organizations in the region, such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and Russia plays an important role in these organizations," the Iranian president said Wednesday morning before departing for Moscow.

Raisi praying in the Kremlin

Unilateralism is a term used by the Islamic Republic and others to mean the power and influence of the United States.

"Russia plays a key role in the Eurasian Economic Union, and our cooperation on this track may be effective to promote trade and economic projects," Raisi said. The volume of trade between the countries currently stands at around $3 billion. Tehran says it intends to increase the it to $25 billion.

Putin called Iran an active participant as an observer in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and said Tehran's relations with the Eurasian Economic Union are developing based on an interim agreement. "We are doing active work to establish a free trade zone between Iran and our assembly."

Raisi also praised the cooperation of the two countries in Syria while the Russian president said Moscow and Tehran played a key role in “helping the Syrian government overcome the threats posed by international terrorism.” Tehran and Moscow have both backed the government of President Bashar Assad from the early days of the Syrian Civil War.

According to the official Russian news agency Tass, Putin said at the meeting that he wanted to hear Raisi's position on the ongoing Iran nuclear talks to restore the 2015 deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). "It is very important for me to know your position on the JCPOA," he told Raisi.

Raisi said Tehran hopes its efforts will lead to the lifting of US sanctions although "the threat of sanctions can't impede Iran."

Russia is a signatory to the JCPOA and in recent weeks has played a proactive role in the Vienna talks as a mediator between Iran and the United States which is only indirectly involved in the talks.

The Iranian president is expected to speak at Russia’s State Duma and at the Moscow Cathedral Mosque on Thursday.

Before Raisi's visit, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that Tehran followed a “new road map” to deepen ties with Moscow. Amir-Abdollahian also said the Iran and Russia are determined to update their 20-year cooperation treaty of 2001.

"Iran's involvement with Russia on important regional and international issues has eroded US unilateralism. Long-term economic cooperation can be the basis for the formation of new successful experiences," Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani tweeted ahead of Raisi's departure for Moscow.

The visit is taking place in an atmosphere of heightened public debate over the Raisi administration's emphasis to reach a 20-year deal with Russia similar to the 25-year cooperation pact with Beijing signed in March which became operational last week.

The clashes in the Wednesday session were the second time in less than a month that angry shareholders show outburst and attack officials following months of uncertainty and losses in the Iranian stock market, hyped by the government which lured thousands of investors.

In late December, violent clashes were reported when one of the shareholders wanted to disrupt a general assembly session of the stock exchange market in the city of Kerman.

Shareholders have held a number of protestsand also announced plans to hold more demonstrations outside the Securities and Exchange Organization in Tehran to denounce the decline in stock prices and devaluation of their capital.

Earlier on Saturday, TEDPIX, the main index of Tehran Stock Exchange, lost 11,630 points to reach 1.322 million as 4.728 billion securities worth 27.68 trillion rials (about $93 million) were traded.

The drop continued in the following days while many people and analysts attribute the decline to uncertainties about the fate of current nuclear talks between Iran and world powers in Vienna.

Firefighters gathered in front of Tehran city hall on Wednesday in protest to the indifference of authorities to their problems.

They also urged the resignation of Tehran’s Fire Department chief and vowed to continue similar rallies until their demands are met.

Last week, thousands of teachers held their fourth round of nationwide protests in more than 50 Iranian cities to demand better salaries and the release of their colleagues detained in earlier demonstrations.

Authorities, who have shown little interest in raising salaries, arrested Mohammad Taghi Fallahi, the head of Iran’s teachers’ union to serve his six-month sentence for organizing the protests.

Workers and employees from various economic sectors are holding regular protest rallies or strikes to demand better work conditions and salaries.

Last week, hundreds of staff members from Iran’s hardliner judiciary department took to the streets in several cities, in what was an unprecedented development.

Food prices have risen by more than 60 percent in recent months, on top of high inflation in the previous three years. Government figures show that prices for 83 percent of basic food staples have reached a critical level. People living on salaries have cut back on nutritious food, such as meat, fruits and dairy products.

Rosen, who arrived in Vienna on Wednesday, says he will hold his protestfor the freedom of the dozens of hostages held unjustly by the Iranian regime, asking the world to “prioritize their release”. He spend 444 days in captivity in the US embassy in Tehran from November 1878 to January 1980.

Rosen has expressed hope his move can stop other countries from reaching a deal with Iran until the hostages are released.

Another journalist and rights activist Jamshid Barzegar says he’s going to join Rosen’s sit-in in Vienna to draw attention to hostages and all political prisoners held by Tehran.

Barzegar said in a tweet that he is joining the hunger strike also to protest the Islamic Republic's “murder of poet Baktash Abtin,”who died of Covid-19 complications following days of medically induced coma after he was denied timely treatment by officials at Tehran’s notorious Evin prison.

The poet and writer was sentenced to six years in prison in May 2019 for his writings.

Since the 1979 revolution the Islamic Republic has arrested and jailed many foreigners on vague and trumped-up charges to use them as bargaining chips against Western countries.

Before leaving Tehran for Moscow Wednesday morning, Raisi expressed hope that his visit could be a “turning point” in bilateral relations.

“Undoubtedly, we have good relations with all of our neighbors, particularly Russia, and considering the bilateral political, economic, and trade relations, this trip can be a turning point in our cooperation with Russia,” he said.

“The Iran-Russia collaboration in the region certainly creates security and will prevent unilateralism,” the Iranian president said.

Raisi is scheduled to hold a meeting with President Putin and deliver a speech at a plenary session of the Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament during his trip.

Rejecting speculations that Raisi is going to Russia to ink the proposed 20-year agreement, Iran’s ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali has said the two presidents may discuss and agree on different issues but signing deals is not on the agenda of the visit.

On Tuesday, the Russian Pacific Fleet announced it will take part in joint naval war games with Iran and China in without announcing the exact date and location for the drills.

Earlier in the week, Iran’s former ambassador to Russia said increasing banking cooperation between Tehran and Moscow can be used to circumvent United States’ sanctions.