TEHRAN- Ali-Akbar Ahmadian, the new secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), has called for a rapid implementation of the agreements struck between Iran and Russia in a number of commercial and financial spheres.Ali-Akbar Ahmadian made the remarks in a meeting on Tuesday with Igor Levitin, the State Council Secretary of Russia, who had visited Tehran.At the meeting, Ahmadian emphasized that President Ebrahim Raisi’s government places a high priority on strengthening ties with neighbors, especially Russia.The Iranian government, he continued, likewise prioritizes regional projects as well as bilateral and multilateral collaboration as a successful strategy for protecting the national interests of the two countries.The SNSC chief continued by talking about international developments and how they affect geopolitical and geostrategic calculations, stating that under these conditions both countries must operationalize all of the North-South Transit Corridor routes as soon as possible, including the western branch, the sea route, and the eastern branch.The senior Iranian official indicated that one of Iran’s top goals in its relations with Russia is to expedite the implementation of the projects that have been agreed upon, including the completion of the North-South Corridor and the memorandums of understanding (MOUs) in oil and gas industries.Ahmadian also praised as a “giant step” the agreement on the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway, a strategic transport corridor connecting the two countries’ existing railways through the Republic of Azerbaijan.The agreement for construction of the railway project was signed in May.For his part, Levitin congratulated Ahmadian on his appointment as the SNSC secretary and gave a report on the most recent advances in banking, trade, and joint economic ventures between the two countries.While expressing satisfaction with the advancement in the implementation of the agreements between the two countries, he stated that Russia will make every effort to implement the agreements between the two countries as soon as possible and remove any obstacles to their implementation.Levitin, who also serves as a key aideto Russian President Vladimir Putin, said the determination by the two nations’ leaders has led to the extensive collaboration between Tehran and Moscow in recent years.The scheduled implementation of the agreements reached between the presidents of the two states in the areas of transportation and transit, energy, medicine, and science, will not only mark a significant improvement in the level of economic ties but also will have a significant impact on the growth of transit and commercial potential in the region.Ami Abdollahian talks to Putin aide about Iran-Russia-Azerbaijan transit agreementAlso, in a separate meeting on Tuesday, the latest developments surrounding the Rasht-Astara railway project and the tripartite transit agreement between Iran, Russia, and Azerbaijan were addressed by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Ami Abdollahian and Levitin.Amir Abdollahian described Tehran-Moscow ties as advantageous and beneficial during the meeting.For his part, Levitin congratulated Iran on its recent membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).Iran officially became a permanent member of the SCO on Tuesday in the 23rd SCO summit held virtually and chaired by India.As a transcontinental political, economic, and security alliance, the SCO includes China, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, India, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and now Iran as full members.

Other aspirants are Afghanistan, Belarus, and Mongolia that now has observer status.