Russia's upper house of parliament speaker will pay an official visit to Iran to discuss possible avenues for strengthening relations.

Russian Federation Council Chairperson Valentina Ivanovna Matvyenko plans to hold talks with senior Iranian officials and will probably meet with President Hassan Rouhani in Tehran, said the council's deputy chairman Ilyas Umakhanov on Friday.

He added that the senior Russian official will exchange views with Iranian authorities on a variety of issues during her visit, which is likely to take place in November.

Matvyenko’s trip to Tehran will come in a series of visits between Iran and Russia following the implementation of last year’s nuclear agreement between Tehran and the P5+1 group of countries.

Trade between the two countries during the first half of 2016 stood at USD 1.8 billion, almost 70 percent up from the same period last year.

Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China – plus Germany started implementing the nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on January 16.

After the JCPOA went into effect, all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran by the European Union, the UN Security Council and the US were lifted. Iran, in return, has put some limitations on its nuclear activities.

By Press TV