Russia said it is drafting a "big" treaty with Iran, just one week after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un upgrading their relationship and pledging military assistance if either one is attacked.

"Now we are working on a treaty — probably you have heard about it, and I ask you once again not to use the formula 'the same as the one with North Korea' — now the work is underway on the big treaty with Iran," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Russia and Iran signed a 20-year strategic agreement in 2001 that was automatically extended in 2020 for five years, according to Russia's TASS state news agency reports. Both sides also agreed in 2020 to work on a new pact that would replace the old document.

The 2001 pact called for cooperation in security; energy projects, including the peaceful use of nuclear energy and the construction of nuclear power plants; industry; and technology, among others, according to its text published on the Kremlin's website.

Very few details have emerged on what the new agreement would include. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion on Ukraine in 2022 and subsequent sanctions on Moscow by Kyiv's allies, Russia and Iran have firmed investment, military, and energy ties.

The U.S. on Thursday issued fresh sanctions targeting Iran in response to "continued nuclear escalations," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

"Over the past month, Iran has announced steps to further expand its nuclear program in ways that have no credible peaceful purpose," Blinken said.

"We remain committed to never letting Iran obtain a nuclear weapon, and we are prepared to use all elements of national power to ensure that outcome."

Information from Reuters was used in this report.

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