Russia, Iran Sign Treaty on Bilateral Relations

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his visiting Iranian counterpart Mohammed Khatami signed a treaty Monday on the fundamentals of bilateral relations and cooperation.

Under the treaty, both sides must not use force or threaten to use force in dealing with bilateral relations and must not allow their territories to be used for aggressive, subversive or separatist acts against each other.

If any side suffers an aggression from a third party, the other side must not render military or other assistance to the aggressor, and should seek a settlement on the basis of the U.N. Charter and international laws, the treaty said.

The two sides also agreed to settle their disputes in peaceful ways.

Putin and Khatami signed the treaty after hours of meeting in the Kremlin.

Khatami arrived here Monday for a four-day official visit, the first one by an Iranian top leader in nearly 40 years.

(Xinhua 03/13/2001)