Mohammad Mokhber, the interim president of Iran met and held talks with Rusian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

In this meeting , Putin expressed confidence that relations between Moscow and Tehran will be strengthened regardless of the outcome of Iran's elections, according to Sputnik.

The very deep strategy between Iran and Russia is a strategy that is set by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution and he is continuously followed up and monitor it, Mokhber said for his part.
 

Moscow and Tehran have been negotiating a comprehensive bilateral cooperation agreement reflecting the “unprecedented upswing” in the bilateral ties, according to Russia’s foreign ministry.

The SCO was founded in ۲۰۰۱ but has come to prominence in recent years. Its nine full member countries are China, India, Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan.

It is intended to be a platform for cooperation in competition with the West, with a focus on security and economics.

A year after Iran joined as a full member, Belarus, also became the ۱۰th full member Thursday.