Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, said that Russia and Iran are strategic partners in the long term, he said in an interview with Russia-24 TV channel
“I think in the long run we are strategic partners and like-minded. And if there is any competition between us, it is only in the field of oil and gas trade, which our countries are so rich in”, – he said.
According to Bagheri, Iran’s supreme leader [Ali Khamenei] has always insisted on expanding cooperation with Russia. It may be that the executive branch has not been doing everything possible in this direction.
The Iranian Armed Forces Chief of General Staff noted that Russia and Iran have repeatedly supported each other in international arenas and held similar views on the situation in Syria, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Caucasus.
“Even if one imagines, though it is unlikely, that we will agree with the US and then abandon Russia, it is unthinkable”, – he stressed