Russia, Iran drafting documents to declare new quality of bilateral partnership - Lavrov

MOSCOW. March 15 (Interfax) - Russia and Iran are preparing to sign additional documents which will declare a new level of bilateral partnership, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

"We are drafting new important documents, which are bound to declare a new quality for our partnership," Lavrov said in his opening remarks at negotiations with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian.

"Despite all of the known factors," bilateral trade turnover has been growing; it grew almost 80% last year to more than $4 billion, Lavrov said.

The future "is even brighter, considering that negotiations on the reinstatement of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which aims at settling the Iran nuclear program situation, are nearing completion," he said.