‘No Limit to Expansion of Iran-Azerbaijan Ties’
BAKU (Dispatches) -- Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said Friday no limits can hinder the expansion of relations with Azerbaijan in all fields.
In a meeting with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev here, Shamkhani said promotion of ties with the neighboring countries is among the main priorities of the Iranian government. Iran is resolute on enhanced cordial relations with Azerbaijan, as a Muslim neighboring state, in all areas, he said.
Pointing to “very good” ties between the two countries over the past 30 years, the top Iranian security official said Tehran and Baku currently enjoy an appropriate level of relations, which would be further improved given firm determination from both sides.
Shamkhani reiterated Iran’s resolve to counter those who seek to undermine Tehran-Baku ties.
The Azeri president, for his part, said senior officials from both sides are determined to improve relations and are making serious efforts in this regard. They would not be affected by pressure from those countries that are not interested in friendly ties between the two neighboring states, he said.
Aliyev said civilizational, cultural, and religious bonds between the Iranian and Azeri nations contribute to overcoming obstacles in the way of expansion of relations. He said that after the second Nagorno-Karabakh war and the return of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, very appropriate conditions have been made for making use of common capacities in the fields of transit, oil, trade, and energy.
The Azerbaijani president invited his Iranian counterpart to visit Baku, saying he would also travel to Tehran to pursue and accelerate the implementation of agreements signed between the two countries.