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Friday, 12 February 2021 (YJC)_ Experts say that Iranian Speaker’s Moscow Visit Signals Closer Ties to Come.
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bager Galibaf paid a visit to Russia this week, marking his first foreign trip since assuming the post in May of last year.
Though the visit is unlikely to bring an immediate breakthrough despite Iran’s plans for fast-track membership in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), it will certainly make a long-term imprint on bilateral relations, regional analysts told The Moscow Times.
During his three-day trip to Moscow, Ghalibaf engaged with top Russian officials and relayed a special message from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to Russian President Vladimir Putin while meeting with State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin who initiated his Iranian counterpart's visit to Moscow.
Though the message to Putin underlined the seriousness of Iran’s intentions regarding Russia, Ghalibaf’s visit as a whole falls short of a strategic breakthrough, Adlan Margoev, an analyst at MGIMO University’s Institute for International Studies, told The Moscow Times.
“Only a formal visit by a head of state, and nothing less than that, could mark a new milestone in bilateral relations,” said Margoev.
The head of Russia's Center for Contemporary Iranian Studies Rajab Safarov, on the contrary, warned against dismissing the visit as “insignificant,” stressing that Ghalibaf is one of the key figures in Iran’s political hierarchy whose personal assessments could have consequences for the wider state of bilateral relations.
“It was definitely an important event that could give a new impetus to Russia-Iran relations,” Safarov said.
Pierre Razoux, a regional analyst and academic director at the Mediterranean Foundation of Strategic Studies (FMES) think tank, echoed Safarov's comments.
“As chairman of the Iranian Parliament and putative candidate in the June 2021 presidential election, it is a way for Ghalibaf to strengthen his international posture,” Razoux said.
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