Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 14
By Farhad Daneshvar – Trend:
During his recent visit to the Kazakh capital, Astana, to attend the first summit of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on science and technology, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani met with some leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Hassan Rouhani during his recent visit met with President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev as well as counterparts from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, an indication of Iran’s interest in widening its ties with the CIS Muslim nations.
“Expansion of cooperation with the CIS countries is among the main goals of Iran’s foreign policy,” former Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mohsen Pak Ayeen, told Trend.
“This policy seeks to boost Iran’s trade ties with the CIS,” he added.
On the other hand confronting with terrorism and extremism as well as criminal gangs including drug trafficking are among the main topics of cooperation between Iran and Central Asia as well as Caucusus.
Conferring with Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, on the sidelines of the meeting, Iran's president touched upon the trade ties between the two countries and said the Islamic Republic is the shortest path for Uzbek merchants to reach the Persian Gulf and international waters.
At a separate meeting with President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, the sides called for taking measures aimed at improving the situation of oil market.
Speaking with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, Rouhani hailed the successful development of the bilateral ties between Azerbaijan and Iran.
“We should unite efforts in order to successfully achieve our goals of developing the bilateral relations,” he said.