At Iran’s initiative, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov held a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif “discussing global issues and cooperation in the energy sector”, ITAR-TASS reported.

"The two top diplomats discussed bilateral cooperation, focusing on the energy sector," the statement reads. "The ministers also exchanged views on a number of pressing regional and global issues," the Russian Foreign Ministry added.

There are no details of what the issues were in the energy sector, but in the past, there have been proposals of barter between the two countries, to allow Iran to indirectly export its oil.

U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil exports are scheduled to be implemented on November 4 and already there have been reports about countries and companies around the world cutting down on their oil purchases from Iran.

Lavrov and Zarif meet regularly on the sidelines of various international events to discuss bilateral cooperation, the Iran nuclear issue and Syria.