TEHRAN: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian will hold talks with Vladimir Putin during a visit to Russia next month to attend the BRICS summit, a government spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The visit to the BRICS summit in the Volga valley city of Kazan from October 22 to 24 will be Pezeshkian’s first to Russia since he took office in late July.

The grouping takes its name from the initial letters of the five members who joined in 2009 - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - but has since expanded to include some Middle Eastern countries, including Iran.

“The president will visit the Russian Federation and participate in the BRICS summit,” Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani told reporters.

Putin congratulates Iran’s Pezeshkian, calls for bilateral cooperation

He “will also hold bilateral meetings with the president of Russia,” she added.

The spokeswoman said that a “strategic partnership agreement” between Iran and Russia “is almost finalised”, without elaborating.

The two governments, which both face sweeping Western sanctions, have forged strong ties in various sectors, including military cooperation.

The latest sanctions, targeting Iran’s air transport links, were imposed over its alleged supply of ballistic missiles to Russia for use in its war in Ukraine.

Iran has denied the Western allegations and described sanctions as a “failed tool”.