Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is scheduled to discuss regional issues, including the Syrian crisis, with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin when he travels to Moscow on Monday.

Iran Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday that the negotiations between Ahmadinejad and Putin will also focus on the ongoing developments in Central Asia and Caucasus as well as the Caspian Sea.

Araqchi noted that Iran and Russia have persistently held “constructive” talks in different domains.


“There are numerous subjects for cooperation between Tehran and Moscow,” he said, adding that the two countries have further broadened their collaboration on various issues.

Araqchi also expressed hope that the Iranian president’s upcoming visit to Russia will further deepen Tehran-Moscow relations.

President Ahmadinejad will head to Russia at the head of a high-ranking delegation to attend the second summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) on July 1. The two-day summit will kick off on the same day in the Grand Kremlin Palace and will be chaired by the Russian president.

On June 24, Kremlin’s top foreign policy aide, Yuri Ushakov, said the first day of the summit will be devoted to leaders’ meeting and bilateral discussions are planned to be held among experts from the member states on the second day of the event.

The first GECF summit was held in the Qatari capital, Doha, in 2011, bringing together 12 permanent members and three observer countries. The Islamic Republic is to host the third summit of the organization, according to Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi.

The Gas Exporting Countries Forum is an intergovernmental organization comprising 11 of the world's leading natural gas producers, including Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.

The GECF was founded in 2001 in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and its members control over 70 percent of the world's natural gas reserves, 38 percent of the pipeline trade, and 85 percent of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) production.

The three largest reserve-holders in the GECF - Russia, Iran and Qatar - together hold about 57 percent of global gas reserves.

HK