Oval Useful news from Azerbaijan and Caucasus
As reported, the delegation of Milli Majlis (Azerbaijan Parliament) of the Republic of Azerbaijan led by Speaker Ogtay Asadov is visiting Iran.
The delegation met with the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani.
Speaker Ogtay Asadov conveyed Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s warmest greetings to the President of Iran.
“Expansion of the relations with the friendly and brotherly Azerbaijan is important for Iran. In recent years the relations of two countries developed even more, and today we observe close cooperation between Tehran and Baku”, President Hassan Rouhani said at the meeting with Speaker of the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan.
Speaker Asadov mentioned that for the last five years the presidents of Iran and Azerbaijan have met 12 times.
“Azerbaijan is one of the countries, close to Iran, on the culture, religion and language. From the date of restoration of Azerbaijan’s independence, the relations between two countries have expanded and now cover large scale cooperation in industrial, pharmaceutical, scientific and technological spheres. Iran and Azerbaijan also made important decision on sharing of energy resources of the Caspian Sea”, – Hassan Rouhani stressed.
President of Iran expressed hope that implementation of bilateral agreements will be accelerated by efforts of the officials of both countries.
“Efforts on creation of the “North-South” corridor, joining of the Astara-Astara and Rasht-Astara railways are an important step in development of bilateral cooperation in transit. The “North-South” corridor will connect the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean, Azerbaijan, Russia and the Black Sea to Eastern and Northern Europe”, Iran’s President emphasized.
The sides underlined that the legal status of the Caspian Sea is important for all Caspian states.
As for regional problems, the sides noted that they have to be solved by negotiations. “We have to try to resolve regional questions by means of discussions. In this aspect, Iran is ready to render any help in settlement of the regional conflicts”, – the president of Iran emphasized.
Chairman of the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan Ogtay Asadov told that Azerbaijan and Iran are friendly and brotherly countries. “Therefore, there were always sincere and cordial relations between our countries. The will of heads of states on development of cooperation and relationship contributes to the further development of bilateral ties”, Asadov noted.
Speaker of Azerbaijan Parliament added that it is necessary to work on all-round development of cooperation in trade and economic spheres: “In 2018, commodity turnover of two countries grew by 40 percent, and, considering the existing potentials, it can be increased even more. At the initiative of presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia, the works along the “North-South” corridor are at a completion stage”, Asadov stressed.
The Speaker of Milli Majlis expressed hope that with start of this corridor trade and economic relations between Iran and Azerbaijan will develop as much as possible.
President of Iran asked to convey his greetings to the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.
The meeting was attended by Azerbaijani MPs Isa Habibbayli, Hadi Rajabli, Shamsaddin Hajiyev, HUseynbala Miralamov, Eldar Ibrahimov, the head of Milli Majlis Administration Safa Mirzayev, Azerbaijan’s ambassador to Iran Bunyad Huseynov and other officials.
Rabil Katanov,
Special correspondent
