Russia and Iran have further strengthened their alliance, after reaching a new gas deal on April 25, under which Moscow will send 55 billion cubic meters of gas to Tehran each year.
Iran has emerged as one of Russia’s key allies during the war in Ukraine. Both Moscow and Tehran are under severe sanctions from the West.
Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad was visiting Moscow and signed the new gas agreement with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Tsivilev.
Paknejad announced the signing of the agreement “which provides, in the first part, 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year.”
He said the gas will be transported through Azerbaijan, which separates the two countries from each other.
Tsivilev, meanwhile, added that prices have not yet been set, but that deliveries will begin this year.
Russia and Iran signed a strategic partnership agreement this year.
The gas deal comes at a time when the United States is pressuring Iran to give up its nuclear program.
The Iranian minister was in Moscow on the same day that US envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin, REL reports.
Kiev and Western countries say Iran is sending weapons to Moscow for its offensive in Ukraine.