Topical aspects of Russian-Iranian relations, the fight against international terrorism, the situation in the Caspian region, the Middle East, Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the Iranian nuclear issue were discussed during the meeting.
Vladimir Putin said that Russia saw no obstacles in the way of cooperation with Iran in the nuclear sphere, especially since Tehran as a sovereign state had every right to develop a peaceful nuclear programme. At the same time the President noted a measure of concern amongst the international community regarding the character of Iran’s nuclear research and singled out three key aspects of the international dialogue on the problem: the opening up of Iran’s nuclear programmes to the IAEA, the signing of an additional protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the issue of uranium enrichment.
For his part the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran said that the leadership of the Islamic Republic would send a notification today to the IAEA on its agreement to sign an additional non-proliferation protocol. At the same time, Tehran intends to suspend uranium enrichment to eliminate all the fears on the part of its foreign policy partners and gain greater trust of the international community. Hassan Rouhani assured that Iran would seek to pursue its nuclear research in line with international regulations and rules and that it was not aiming to develop weapons of mass destruction.
The Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council conveyed to Vladimir Putin an invitation from Iranian President Mohammad Khatami to visit Tehran. The invitation was accepted with gratitude.