President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, colleagues,
Please accept my warmest greetings. I am happy to have this meeting.
The relations between Russia and Iran are multifaceted and multilateral, embracing economic ties, regional stability issues, and our joint efforts to combat terrorism, including in Syria.
We have done a great deal in this area, due, among other things, to Iran’s active role. Of course, this is our joint success – Iran, Turkey and Russia.
We are developing economic relations on several tracks. Russia and Iran have had close humanitarian ties from time immemorial, and mutual interest in the Russian world, on one hand, and in the Persian culture, on the other, has always played a significant part in our dialogue.
I am very pleased to have this opportunity to meet with you on the sidelines of today's event and discuss all these issues.
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani (retranslated): Thank you, Mr President. I am very glad to have this opportunity to talk with you today.
First of all, please accept my greetings on the occasion of Russia Day which you recently marked.
Our countries have model relations and they are progressing every day. I find it difficult to list all the areas where we interact. It is much easier to say that there are no areas in which we do not interact.
And the situation that is currently developing in the region necessitates greater interaction between our countries.
We have good cooperation experience in countering terrorism and establishing stability in the region.
In the current conditions, with serious external influence and imposed sanctions, there is a growing need for interaction between the countries in the region, in particular between our two countries.
At the international level, at international platforms, we can see proximity of approaches, and this means that our interaction at international platforms is very good.
I have absolutely no doubt that today's meeting will make another contribution to the development of our bilateral relations.
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