TEHRAN (Dispatches) – The chief of staff of the Iranian president said Monday Tehran and Baku have managed to raise their relations to a strategic level in all arenas.
In a meeting with Azerbaijan’s Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev here, Mahmoud Vaezi said the serious resolve of the Iranian and Azeri presidents has elevated relations between the two neighbors to a strategic level in all fields.
He also stressed the need to carry out the agreements that the presidents of the two countries have signed in the past.
“Today, proper conditions have been created to make arrangements for the implementation of the projects halted under the cruel U.S. sanctions,” Vaezi added.
For his part, Mustafayev said plans for stronger relations with Iran are top on Azerbaijan’s foreign policy agenda.
He also touched on the great capacities for cooperation with Iran in the energy and industrial sectors, transportation, agriculture and the tourist industry.
Despite obstacles to international trade posed by the coronavirus pandemic, trade exchanges between Azerbaijan and Iran rose by 27 percent after the pandemic, he noted.
Iran and Azerbaijan have accelerated efforts in recent years to forge closer partnership in various areas. Azeri President Ilham Aliyev has made several official visits to Tehran over the past few years.
In a Friday message to his Azeri counterpart Ilham Aliyev, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani congratulated the “friendly and brotherly” government and nation of Azerbaijan on the Republic Day, expressing confidence that the two neighbors will strengthen cooperation, promote political, economic and cultural ties, and deepen regional peace and stability on the basis of their rich cultures, common historical background, and mutual understanding.