YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS. Russia is Iran’s reliable partner in economy and politics, Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said.

“Russia is our excellent partner in trade and politics, it understands us since it too is a victim of U.S. sanctions,” Zarif tolf the French Le Figaro newspaper in an interview.

He also said that Iran has coordinated cooperation with Russia and Turkey over the “Syria dossier”.

FM Zarif said that the only purpose of the Iranian military presence in Syria is to combat terrorism and extremism.  He said that “the U.S. pushes all our neighbors to boycott us, but as you can see, they fail.”

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan