Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 26
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iran and Finland agreed to connect their railways through Azerbaijan, says the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
"We approved connecting the countries through the railways and we are going to connect Iran to Finland through Baku and Moscow," Rouhani said during a joint press conference with his visiting Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto in Tehran, Oct. 26, the state-run IRINN TV reported.
He said the two parties also agreed to organize direct flights between Iran and Finland in the near future.
Rouhani added that Tehran and Helsinki can boost cooperation in several fields, including energy, transport, environment and agriculture.
He said the two sides are willing to improve ties in tourism and banking sectors.
Regional issues, including the latest developments in Iraq, Yemen, Syria and Libya were also discussed, Rouhani said, adding that the two parties agreed to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the needy people in the region.
Rouhani added that the capacity of the Iran-EU relations in post-sanctions era also was discussed during the meeting.
"We underlined that after JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action aka nuclear deal) both Iran and the EU are interested in boosting relations in various sectors, including science, technology and trade," the Iranian president said.
The two parties also expressed interest in expanding cooperation in issues of citizenship rights, human rights, fighting against drug-trafficking, terrorism and extremism, Rouhani said.
He added that Niinisto’s visit would mark a good beginning for expansion of bilateral relations.
Iran and Finland signed four documents to boost mutual cooperation in energy, communications and trade on the sidelines of the presidents’ meeting.
Heading a big trade delegation, Niinisto arrived in Tehran on Oct. 25. He was officially welcomed by Rouhani in Saadabad Historical-Cultural Complex on Oct. 26 morning.
The visit is aimed at taking major steps to develop trade relations between the two countries.