Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Akbar Ahmadian and his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev underscored the need for expansion of bilateral ties in various fields, specifically the fight against terrorism.

According to The Iran Project,During a meeting in Moscow on Wednesday, Ahmadian stressed the need for the continuation of Iran-Russia cooperation in the fight against terrorism, particularly in Syria.

Patrushev, for his part, said a long-term cooperation agreement between Iran and Russia is being finalized, adding that the deal will enhance relations and outline the path for strategic collaboration.

“Today, Moscow-Tehran ties are strengthening and upgrading to a new qualitative level in all fields,” he continued.

Ahmadian, who assumed the SNSC secretary role in May 2023, arrived in Moscow upon Patrushev’s invitation on Tuesday evening. Patrushev visited Tehran in November 2022 at the invitation of Ahmadian’s predecessor, Ali Shamkhani. At the time, he was scheduled to discuss the development of bilateral relations and international collaboration with high-ranking Iranian political and economic officials.

In June 2023, the Russian security chief hosted a meeting with Iran’s Police Chief Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Radan in Moscow. The two officials discussed communication between special services and law enforcement agencies, and signed a memorandum to jointly combat drug trafficking, organized crime and smuggling.

Moscow also announced in a statement on Wednesday that discussions between the two security chiefs centered around combating terrorism and strengthening cybersecurity, as well as securing economic resilience in the face of Western sanctions pressure. 

According to the security council’s statement, Patrushev and Ahmadian also discussed a new “bilateral comprehensive long-term agreement”, which would “provide a major impetus to the development of mutually beneficial partnership in all fields”.

Thereby, the relationship between Moscow and Tehran is “reaching a whole new level”, it declared.