MOSCOW: Russia and Iran will speed up work on a major new interstate agreement, Russia’s foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday after a phone call between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart.

The ministry provided no details on the planned agreement, which comes amid strengthening trade, political and other ties between Moscow and Tehran in the face of Western economic sanctions.

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Lavron and Iran’s Hossein Amirabdollahian also expressed concern about the conflict in Israel and called for United Nations-led humanitarian assistance, the ministry said.