Baku, Azerbaijan, May 27
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran and South Korea discussed cooperation in a variety of areas, especially in the energy and banking sectors.
In a meeting between Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia and Oceania, Ebrahim Rahimpour and his South Korean counterpart in Seoul, the two sides expressed hope that the bilateral cooperation would be expanded in the oil, gas, and energy sectors, Iran's IRNA news agency reported on May 27.
The facilitation of cooperation in the banking sector was also discussed in the meeting.
The South Korean official, for his part, voiced South Korean companies' readiness to boost investment in different projects in Iran.
In a separate meeting between Rahimpour and South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se on May 24, the South Korean official said that South Korea attaches special importance and value to its relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran and has always sought to maintain these relations at the best level and status possible.
He referred to increased exchange of visits by Iranian and South Korean political and parliamentary delegations in recent years, and expressed the hope that the positive developments in the relations between the two countries would lead to the further expansion of ties in different political, economic and cultural fields, Iran's Fars news agency reported.
Byung-se pointed to the Geneva agreement inked by Iran and the world powers in November to settle differences over Tehran's nuclear program, and said that the Korean companies are precisely following the developments (in talks between Iran and the powers) as they are interested in developing their cooperation with Iran in economic and trade fields.
On January 20, Iran and the six powers (the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) started the implementation of the historic nuclear deal which the two sides struck in the Swiss city of Geneva on November 24, 2013.
After endorsing the agreement with the world powers, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif underlined that the six world powers have recognized Iran's enrichment program.
As part of the deal, in exchange for Iran's confidence-building bid to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities, the six world powers agreed to lift some of the existing sanctions against Tehran.