Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan said it was essential that Tehran and Moscow bolster defense cooperation.
The Iranian minister made the comments in response to a message by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday to congratulate Dehqan’s appointment as minister of defense.
Dehqan also stated that Russia enjoys a special position in the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy, expressing gratitude to the Russian minister for his letter.
In his congratulatory message, Shoigu called for closer ties between the armed forces of Russia and Iran.
On October 20, Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief Lieutenant General Viktor Nikolaevich Bondarev paid an official four-day visit to the Islamic Republic and held talks with high-ranking Iranian commanders.
During Bondarev’s stay, Tehran gave Moscow one of its indigenous ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicles as a sign of friendship and cooperation between the two countries.
In January, Tehran and Moscow signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to increase security cooperation between the two countries.
