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© ITAR-TASS/Denis VyshinskyIranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (left) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
Russian and Iranian Foreign Ministers Sergei Lavrov and Mohammad Javad Zarif during their meeting in Moscow on August 29 will discuss the Iranian nuclear program, the situation in the region and preparation for the Caspian summit, which will be held in the Russian city of Astrakhan in the autumn this year.

Russian-Iranian relations based on principles of friendship and mutual respect for interests of each other, political contacts and practical cooperation have been actively developing in recent time, the ministry said in a statement on Thursday in connection with the planned visit by the Iranian foreign minister to Moscow.

A number of important documents are expected to be signed during the Caspian summit, the ministry said.

Russia and Iran seek to unite efforts to accelerate their social and economic development, first of all to increase bilateral trade volumes. Russian-Iranian cooperation may have a positive effect on the situation in the Middle East and create additional conditions to ensure security and stability in the region, the ministry said.

Russia plans to continue developing mutually advantageous ties with Iran and consolidate bilateral cooperation for regional stability and international security, the ministry added.

A real possibility has emerged for Iran to satisfy its right to enrich uranium and lifting of the sanctions regime, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The agreements reached in Geneva on November 24, 2013 on the Iranian nuclear program open real prospects to come in November this year to a long-term and reliable settlement of the problem. Despite the uneasy negotiating process, a possibility is seen to satisfy in full all the integral rights of Iran as a member state of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, including the right to enrich uranium and lifting the sanctions regime," the ministry said.

Moscow expects all the parties in the talks to show political will to come to final mutually acceptable agreements that would allow to fully restore the international community's trust in the exclusively peaceful character of Iran's nuclear program. It would have a favourable effect on the situation in the Middle East and help create a zone free of mass destruction weapons in the region, the Russian Foreign Ministry added.

The positions of Russia and Iran on the Syrian problem largely coincide. "The main task is to stop bloodshed and sufferings of Syrian people as soon as possible. We oppose use of force to settle the Syrian crisis," the ministry said. "Any interference in the internal Syrian conflict bypassing the UN Security Council will only aggravate the already difficult situation in the country and lower chances to achieve agreements between Syrian parties."

Russia welcomes Tehran's readiness to establish close cooperation on Afghanistan, first of all in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, adding that it highly praised Iran's combating drug traffic from the Afghan territory.

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Iran and sextet of world powers reached a landmark agreement on Tehran’s nuclear programme after 10 years of talks. Iran will limit its nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.