TEHRAN, YEREVAN STUDY WAYS TO FURTHER DEVELOP BILATERAL RELATIONS
14:36 | 2012-12-25
Foriegn Policy
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and Oceania
Seyed Abbas Araqchi and his Armenian counterpart Robert Koucharian in
a meeting in Yerevan on Tuesday conferred on ways to further expand
ties between the two countries and exchanged views over the latest
developments in the region and the world.
Araqchi who arrived in Yerevan yesterday evening also attended a
meeting of Iran-Armenia Political Consultative Committee, in which
bilateral relations between the two countries in different political,
economic, cultural, consulate and legal fields went under discussion.
Also the two sides reviewed the latest regional and international
developments, specially the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute between Armenia
and Azerbaijan and the events in the crisis-hit Syria.
During the visit, Araqchi will also hold bilateral meetings with
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and the country’s Energy
and Natural Resources Minister Armen Movsisian to discuss ways to
further expand the relations between the two countries and exchange
views over regional and international developments.
In recent years, Iran and its Northern neighbor Armenia have boosted
cooperation a wide array of grounds. Only in the last two years, the
two states have signed several agreements on energy cooperation and
agreed to cooperate in technology and research and enhance ties in
commerce and economy.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Armenian counterpart
pledged in December 2011 to further expand “high-level relations”
between their nations and, in particular, give new impetus to the
implementation of joint energy projects that have fallen behind
schedule.
In early October, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and his
Armenian counterpart met at the UN Headquarters in New York to discuss
bilateral ties and regional and international issues.
In a relevant event in June, a senior Iranian official announced Iran
and Armenia’s plans to establish a joint free trade zone.
Caretaker of Aras Free Trade Zone Sadeq Najafi made the remarks in a
meeting with the governor-general of Sionik province, during which the
two sides inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in
investment, trade and environmental sectors.
“In this MoU, it was agreed that an Iranian-Armenian free trade zone
will be established for joint investment by Aras Free Trade Zone and
Sionik province,” Najafi said.
The two sides also agreed to create a joint border market at Nordouz
border which is located within the boundaries of Aras Free Trade Zone,
he added.