Putin arrives in Tehran for Astana process negotiations

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Today, Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Tehran where he will begin his diplomatic meetings with seating with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, after which he will be meeting Iranian Leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei and then with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, totaling to 3 rounds of negotiations. 

Later on, Russia, Iran, and Turkey will gather up for the Astana process summit, after which the sides will adopt a joint statement and deliver it to the media. 

The negotiations, which are part of the Astana process, aim to obtain a settlement on Syria, which has been grappling with war and extremism of no end. 

Read more: Iran FM: Main topic in Tehran Astana talks is de-escalation in Syria

Today, Raisi and Erdogan oversaw the signing of a number of agreements in different fields, including trade and economy.

“The two countries shared a desire to upgrade agreements," he said, adding that “Iran and Turkey's trade volume should reach $30 billion."

Raisi emphasized the countries' cooperation on security issues, saying, "[the issue of] border security, as well as the fight against terrorism, narcotics, and organized crime, was emphasized between Tehran and Ankara."

“[Terrorism] might assume different names. [However] terrorism translates into endangerment of people’s security and must be fought with no matter its name so security can be provided for the borders,” the Iranian president noted.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he went on to say that Turkey and Iran reiterate their support for Syria's territorial integrity, adding that “cooperation between the two countries can play a major role in preserving regional and international security and stability."

The Iranian President hoped that Iran-Turkey Strategic Cooperation will boost ties between the two countries.

Just today, the Iranian and Russian firms signed the biggest foreign investment deal in the Iranian economy, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.

The National Iranian Oil Company signed with Russian Gazprom a memorandum of understanding in the energy sector that includes Moscow investing $40 billion in developing the Kish gas field and the northern Fars oil field, increasing the production of the lower Fars gas field, and developing six Iranian oil fields.

The Russians currently invest more than $4 billion in the Iranian oil industry, which is expected to see a ten-fold increase.