MOSCOW: Russia is ready to expand military and technical cooperation with Iran, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told his Iranian counterpart Gharaei Ashtiani at a meeting on Friday, the RIA state news agency reported.

Contacts between the countries’ military departments have increased significantly recently, Shoigu was cited as saying.

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The two ministers were attending a meeting in Kazakhstan of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a security grouping that includes Russia, India, China, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.