Russia promotes military ties with Iran

The Russian defence minister, General Igor Sergeyev, begins a three-day visit to Iran today -- the first of its kind since the Islamic revolution there twenty-one years ago.

He's going to Tehran less than two months after Russia abandoned an agreement it had with the United States not to supply Iran with weapons.

The BBC Tehran correspondent says Russia sees Iran as a lucrative arms market and a potentially important regional ally.

In Moscow, President Putin said Russia needed a pragmatic foreign policy, to defend its national interests.

He spoke positively about the American president-elect, George W Bush, but said Russia would not bow to the United States by refusing to develop military co-operation with Iran.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service