Russia, Syria leaders congratulate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on landslide reelection

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (C) and his Russian and Syrian counterparts, Vladimir Putin (R) and Bashar al-Assad

The leaders of Russia and Syria have extended their congratulations to incumbent Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on his landslide election victory and winning a second term in office.

In a Saturday message on telegram, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for further steps to be taken to deepen Moscow-Tehran relations.

The Russian president “confirmed the readiness to continue active joint work to further develop the Russian-Iranian cooperation partnership,” said a statement by the Kremlin.

Putin also expressed confidence that the two countries would continue to work in the spirit of “maintaining stability and security in the Middle East and the world as a whole” and that the previous agreements reached during Rouhani’s visit to Moscow in March would be successfully implemented.

During Rouhani's visit to Moscow in late March, Iranian and Russian officials signed 14 documents for the expansion of cooperation in various political, economic, judicial, legal, scientific and cultural fields. The documents were signed in the presence of Rouhani and Putin following their talks.

During the visit, Iranian and Russian economic entrepreneurs and businesspeople also held several rounds of talks and signed agreements to boost cooperation between the two countries’ private sectors.

Iran and Russia have become increasingly allied in Syria and helped the war-stricken country gain more ground in recent months, particularly during the Syrian army’s major offensive last year to fully retake the northern city of Aleppo from Daesh Takfiri terrorists.

Syria's Assad felicitates Rouhani on reelection

Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has sent a letter to his Iranian counterpart, offering his congratulations on the "confidence that the Iranian people gave to him to go forward in boosting Iran's status in the region and the world."

Assad said his country would continue to work and cooperate with Iran "in what boosts security and stability in the two countries, the region and the world."

The Syrian president further noted that the election process in Iran had set a model for the world, wishing the Iranian nation more achievements and increasing dignity.

Iranian President Rouhani won a resounding reelection victory on Saturday with 23,549,616 votes or 57 percent of the total ballots. His nearest rival in the four-man race, Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi, secured 15,786,449 votes, or 38.5 percent.

Iran's 12th presidential election and the 5th City and Village Councils Elections were held simultaneously on Friday at some 63,500 polling stations inside the country and 310 others in 102 countries.