MOSCOW (Agencies) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in a meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister and Iran's special envoy on Caspian Sea regional security issues Mehdi Safari, here on Monday called upon Iran to resume nuclear talks, IRNA reported.

He said that Russian officials continue to hope that Iran will act in a manner conducive to resolving the dispute on its nuclear program and resuming negotiations.

For his part, Safari said that Iran and Russia will continue their political talks in this regard.

"We hope that our Iranian friends can adopt a position that will help ease tensions and resume negotiations," Lavrov said as carried by AFP.

He added that contacts between Russia and Iran were ongoing and "intensive" and said Moscow was committed to further developing bilateral relations with the Islamic republic with a view, shared by both sides, to boosting regional security and cooperating on other issues.

Those issues, he said, ranged from the situations in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East, to fighting illegal drug trafficking.

Turning to the recent visit of the Secretary of Russia's National Security Council Igor Ivanov to Tehran, he hoped that talks that were began will continue and that more high-level meetings would be held, IRNA reported.

Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani is also due in Moscow on Tuesday, Interfax news agency quoted the Russian embassy in Tehran as saying. He was invited by the head of Russia's security council, Igor Ivanov.