Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raisi, held a phone conversation on Saturday, during which they discussed various matters on the bilateral agenda, focusing on boosting political and economic cooperation, the Kremlin said.  

"A number of pressing matters on the bilateral agenda were discussed, with a focus on strengthening further cooperation in political, trade, and economic fields, including transport and logistics," the Kremlin said in a statement.  

The Russian and Iranian presidents also agreed to intensify contacts between the relevant agencies of their countries.

Iran's influence in the world and the region would rise with cooperation with friends, Raisi said in response to a question from a Sputnik correspondent at the General Assembly of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies in October.

"We are serious about developing relations with Russia and other countries," he added.

Iran aims to become top Russian grain importer: Ambassador to Russia

Iran is aiming to become the number one purchaser of Russia's grain, the Iranian ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali announced in October, stating that the country is currently the second top purchaser of the Russian commodity.

Data acquired from Iran's ports and Maritime organization suggest that Tehran purchased 16.5 million tons of grain, where 50% of the total purchase accounts for wheat.

In order to become the number one importer of Russian grain, Iran must purchase at least 7 million tons of the commodities until March 2023.

Iran and Russia have been warming up in relations, with reports last July revealing that Iran had become Russia's top customer in purchasing Russian wheat with 360,000 metric tonnes in deliveries according to data-intelligence company Kpler. 

The two countries' close collaboration comes against a backdrop of targeted and comprehensive sanctions waged by the West against them, which has prompted closer cooperation in the long run. The US-led world order has only polarized alliances further. 

The closer cooperation will ameliorate the aggressive impacts of the West-led sanctions on the two countries by locating new markets for their products and boosting military cooperation. Recently, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan called the ties a "profound threat". Furthermore, bilateral trade has risen 10% between the two countries this year - in 2021, according to Russia, bilateral trade increased by 80% higher, reaching $4 billion.