 "Vladimir Putin congratulates Iran's Hassan Rouhani on re-election")
Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on his re-election Saturday, calling for deeper ties between Moscow and Tehran.
In a telegram to Rouhani, Putin "confirmed the readiness to continue active joint work to further develop the Russian-Iranian cooperation partnership," the Kremlin said in a statement.
Putin also expressed confidence that Moscow and Tehran will continue to work in the spirit of "maintaining stability and security in the Middle East and the world as a whole" and that agreements reached during Rouhani`s visit to Russia in March will be successfully implemented.
The meeting in March between Putin and Rouhani, who have grown closer through their mutual support of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, mostly focused on the countries` flourishing economic ties in the fields of energy and industry.
Iran and Russia have become increasingly allied in Syria, helping Assad`s forces gain ground in recent months, including in the Syrian army`s major offensive last year to retake rebel-held eastern Aleppo.
In addition to cooperation on Syria, energy and defence ties have deepened between Iran and Russia in recent years.
Russia is to build nine of Iran`s 20 proposed nuclear reactors and has emerged as a long-term arms partner, supplying Tehran with its S-300 air defence missile system.
The relationship has blossomed under Rouhani despite the countries having a complicated history over territory, oil and Communist ideology.
Rouhani, a 68-year-old moderate cleric who spearheaded a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, won 57 percent of the vote, according to Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli.
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