In opening the meeting, Vladimir Putin noted that Iran is a country which has long-standing traditional ties with Russia. The President said that he had warm memories of his meeting with the Iranian President, Mohammad Khatami, in Moscow last year and asked the Minister to give his best wishes to the Iranian leaders.
In turn, Kamal Kharrazi passed along the Iranian President’s cordial greetings to President Putin and added that Iran gives special importance to its closer cooperation with Russia in both bilateral and international spheres.