Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has arrived in Tehran for talks that would focus on bilateral ties, Iran's nuclear deal and the conflict in Syria.
Lavrov arrived in Tehran on Tuesday and is scheduled to hold talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif on major regional and international issues, according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry.
“Tehran and Moscow have ongoing negotiations and consultations on regional issues, in particular Syria,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said on Tuesday.
Afkham added that the upcoming Geneva II conference on the ongoing crisis in Syria would also be discussed during Lavrov’s visit.
The Geneva II conference, which will be a follow-up to an earlier one held in June 2012, had been proposed by Moscow and Washington on May 7, but was delayed for several months.
On November 25, however, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the long-delayed event will be held on January 22, 2014.
Last week, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that during his visit Lavrov would also discuss Iran's nuclear energy program "in the context of the agreements recently reached in Geneva" between Tehran and six world powers.
On November 24, Iran and the six world powers -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany -- reached an interim deal to pave the way for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old dispute with Iran over its nuclear energy program.
In exchange for Tehran’s confidence-building measure to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities, the six countries agreed to lift some of the existing sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
