Tehran: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
on Monday congratulated Russia`s Vladimir Putin on his
presidential election victory, saying Tehran seeks better ties
with Moscow, the government website reported.
"I congratulate him, as well as the friendly government
and nation of (Russia), for being elected president of the
Russian Federation," Ahmadinejad said in a message sent to
Putin`s office, the website reported.
Ahmadinejad called for the further "development of good
relations" between Iran and Russia, it said.
Putin secured more than 63 per cent of the vote in
yesterday`s election, winning back the Russian presidency
which he held for two terms from 2000 to 2008, although some
of his rivals and several vote monitoring groups cried foul.
During his election campaign, Putin issued a stark
warning against military strikes on Iran over its
controversial nuclear programme, which Tehran says is purely
civilian.
Russia has longstanding commercial and military ties with
Iran and has condemned sanctions imposed by the United States
and European Union over Western allegations Tehran is seeking
to develop nuclear weapons.
PTI
