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The Iranian Ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, said Saturday that the bilateral relations between his country and Moscow have been reaching new levels in light of both countries having a similar and sometimes unanimous approach toward regional and international issues.

"Today, relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation are reaching a new level," Jalali said during an academic event held in the Russian capital with a focus on the Persian language and Persian literature.

Tehran and Moscow "are entering the sphere of close cooperation" and "have similar approaches to [solving] regional and international problems," the diplomat revealed.

Russian media reported that the Iranian diplomat hailed the important role played by the Iranian and Russian specialists who speak both languages.

Likewise, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian lauded last month his country's growing cooperation with Moscow, most notably in the fields of business, politics, culture, tourism, security, and defense.

Commenting on the question regarding US worries about defense cooperation between Russia, the top Iranian diplomat assured that such cooperation will not be directed against any third party.

Russia's ambassador to Tehran Alexei Dedov said in February that trade relations between Russia and Iran have reached a record high of $4.6 billion in 2022, a stark increase of 15% compared to the year prior.

The Russian diplomat added that prospects for further growth are likewise anticipated for 2023.

"Record trade figures for 2022 are largely due to the fruitful agricultural cooperation between Russian and Iranian companies. Agri-food accounts for about 85% of our trade," Dedov said, noting that the numbers for the year 2022 were not final and that upward revisions are still ongoing. 

Moreover, Jalali said in mid-February that a large portion of trade between Iran and Russia is carried out using national currencies, however, the weight of the US dollar in their bilateral trade must be further reduced.

Reduced usage of the US dollar in bilateral trade will, according to the ambassador, reduce the impact of the dollar on the Russian-Iranian economic partnership.

The ruble might become the major currency used for commerce between Eurasian Economic Union countries and one of the key currencies used among members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, alongside China's yuan, Jalali underlined.

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