TEHRAN -- President Ebrahim Raisi said Sunday Iran is determined to boost relations with Ashgabat in all areas, especially transportation and energy generation.
Raisi made the remarks in a meeting with Serdar Berdimuhamedov, the special envoy of Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, and Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov.
Saying that Tehran and Ashgabat are improving relations, Raisi said, “We are determined to take effective and useful steps in political, economic, cultural and social sphere for the benefit of our nations.”
The president said his meeting with his Turkmen counterpart in Ashgabat and phone calls between the two sides have opened a new chapter in developing mutual relations.
“In these talks, sound decisions were taken to remove existing obstacles in the way of cooperation, including on transportation and energy; and the ground for expanding and deepening relations between the two countries was paved.”
Raisi stressed that Tehran welcomes Turkmenistan’s proposals to strengthen cooperation in various sectors, especially in the field of energy, trade and commerce. “There are no obstacle and limitation in this regard,” he said.
Heading a high-ranking delegation, the Iranian president visited Ashgabat late in November to attend the 15th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO).
He said Sunday that promoting cooperation with the neighboring and regional countries is a foreign policy priority of the Islamic Republic.
The Turkmen president’s special envoy submitted a written message from President Berdimuhamedov and hailed Iran’s efforts in recent months to expand mutual relations.
He said his country is resolved to expand relations with Iran in various fields, particularly in natural gas, transportation, economy, trade and culture.
Berdimuhamedov said Ashgabat seeks to open a new historical page in relations with Tehran. He said various proposals have been drawn up to expand inclusive cooperation, particularly to increase and facilitate trade and transit at border terminals, which would be signed and implemented during a visit by Turkmenistan’s president to Iran.
Later on Sunday, Iran’s First Vice President Muhammad Mokhber met with Berdimuhamedov, who also serves as Turkmenistan’s deputy chairman of government, saying relations between Tehran and Ashgabat must turn into a role model for the entire region.
Mokhber said development of relations with all neighboring countries, including Turkmenistan, is among Iran’s priorities.
The current volume of exchanges between Tehran and Ashgabat, he added, is not acceptable.
“Relations between the two countries, must further expand in all areas, especially oil, energy, rail, sea and land transportation, export of engineering services as well as facilitation of exports and imports through border terminals,” he said.
Expansion of relations, including with Iran, is also a foreign policy priority of Turkmenistan, Berdimuhamedow said.
The Turkmen official further stressed the need for further development of economic, industrial, trade, transit and cultural exchanges between the two sides.