TEHRAN – Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay a visit to Iran next week, a senior Iranian lawmaker has said.The lawmaker, Mohammad Reza Pour Ebrahimi, who is chairman of the Iranian parliament’s Economic Committee, said the visit aims to boost economic cooperation between Tehran and Moscow.He stressed that Russia is serious about expanding its economic relations with Iran and that planning for this goal will be at the top of Putin's agenda in his meeting with Iran's high-ranking officials.He added that the U.S.

and European sanctions on Russia have caused a sharpening of Russian interest in economic and commercial dealings with Iran.The lawmaker explained that after the recent visit of the Iranian president, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi, to Russia, a positive atmosphere was created in Moscow regarding economic cooperation with Iran.

Very good agreements were signed during that visit, he added. Iran-Russia cooperation has increased in recent months, with the two sides mulling expansion of ties in various economic fields.

In July, Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Governor Ali Saleh-Abadi traveled to Moscow. During his trip, Saleh-Abadi met Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, the country’s Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov, the governor of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, and senior directors of some major Russian banks.Issues related to joint investment, and ways to expand monetary and banking cooperation and remove barriers were the main pivots of negotiations in the trip.Saleh-Abadi also discussed the expansion of ties between the banks of the two countries with the senior directors of major Russian banks.In his meeting with Iran’s central banker, Novak said expansion of economic ties and joint investment is a priority and necessity and announced his country’s readiness in this regard.Iran and Russia also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on road transportation at the end of the two countries’ Road Transportation Joint Committee meeting in Moscow in June.

The MOU, inked by the Iranian and Russian deputy transport ministers, is a step toward strengthening the two countries’ economic exchanges in the field of road transport. The parties also discussed and agreed on the exchange of statistics and information in terms of road transport, international road transport issues in the territory of Iran and Russia, the use of traffic permits, border crossings and the development of international transport corridors.