The Chairman of Russia's National Security Council, and former Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu is visiting Iran's capital Tehran today.
The meeting takes place simultaneously as tensions in the Middle East are rising after Hamas leader Ismail Haniya and Hezbollah leader Fuad Shukr were killed in targeted attacks. Haniya was killed in Tehran where he was attending the presidential inauguration of the country's newly elected president Masoud Pezeshkian.
During his visit, Shoigu is to meet with Pezeshkian to discuss strengthened bilateral cooperation in areas such as security.
Shoigu was replaced as Defense Minister by Andrey Belousov in May.