Mr Minister,

Friends,

Javad,

We are very glad to see you in Moscow again. We cherish this opportunity to touch base on our bilateral relations in the follow-up to the discussions and arrangements reached by our two presidents, President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Iran Hassan Rouhani. This is something we would very much like to encourage. We can discuss how bilateral arrangements on trade, economic, investment and humanitarian relations are being implemented.

Of course, we are very much interested in getting your assessment of the latest developments regarding the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on the Iranian nuclear programme. We have been hearing and watching the developments, which we welcome if they are aimed at resolving the current deadlock and resuming activities in line with the JCPOA.

In addition, we are working in the Astana format together with our Iranian and Turkish colleagues, and therefore it seems particularly important to discuss where we are on the Syrian settlement in terms of both counter-terrorism and promoting the return of refugees, as well as resolving humanitarian issues and of course starting the political process by finalising the formation of the Constitutional Committee.

We are very interested in exchanging views with you on other developments in the region, including in Yemen, Libya and Palestine, keeping in mind that we always try to coordinate our actions on these issues in the international arena.

This is a very timely visit. Thank you very much for coming at our invitation.

Once again, welcome.