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Iran shows off IRGC drones and missiles to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Photo/Al Arabiya
TEHERAN – Iranian state media reported Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) aerospace unit on Wednesday to inspect drones, missiles and air defense systems.
According to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency, Shoigu was welcomed and given a tour by Amirali Hajizadeh, head of the IRGC’s aerospace unit as quoted by Al Arabiya, Thursday (21/9/2023).
Addressing tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Ashtiani said: “Maintaining international borders and territorial integrity of regional countries is one of the red lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran… we consider the proposed 3+3 format as a solution to peacefully resolve problems in the Caucasus region.”
The “3+3” format includes three Caucasian countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia – and three neighboring countries – Russia, Turkey, and Iran.
This happened when Azerbaijan launched a military operation against separatist forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh region on Tuesday.
Shoigu, for his part, said that relations between Russia and Iran had reached a new level despite opposition from the West.
“We are determined to carry out the entire series of activities we have planned despite opposition from the US and its Western allies. “Sanction pressure on Russia and Iran proved futile, while Russian-Iranian cooperation reached a new high,” Russian news agency TASS quoted Shoigu as saying in a meeting with his Iranian colleague.
Previously, Shoigu met his colleague from Iran, Mohammad Reza Ashtiani.
“The talks revolved around documents on long-term military and defense cooperation” between Iran and Russia, as well as proposals to resolve the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Tasnim reported.
