Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to visit Moscow following an invitation from his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the 19th of this month.

On December 28, the Iranian government spokesperson Ali Bahadori Jahromi announced that Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will visit Russia at the beginning of the New Year. 

Jahromi added that Raisi's visit to Russia at the start of 2022 comes after he was officially invited by Russian President Vladimir Putin and is in line with the strategic interaction between the two countries. 

The government spokesperson stressed that the visit is along the lines of the policy of the Iranian government to consolidate and develop bilateral and multilateral relations with countries in the region, particularly through growing trade and economic cooperation.

On his account, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov commented on the upcoming visit by saying,  “Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s upcoming visit to Russia will be very important.”

"The visit, in short, is very important. It's time to resume contacts at the highest level, which are traditionally close and regular among us and which also fell victim to the coronavirus infection... The significance [of the visit], first of all, is the need to take an inventory of our entire agenda taking into account changes in the leadership of Iran," Lavrov added during a press conference.

Russia and Iran have friendly relations and are important allies. After former US President Donald Trump's unilateral withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and reimposing of sanctions, Moscow began taking part in the ongoing negotiations in Vienna to resurrect the deal.