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Iran President, Uzbek Foreign Minister Discuss Expansion of Ties

By Nigar Bayramli March 14, 2023

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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi held a meeting with the visiting Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov on March 12, 2023. / president.ir

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that his country and Uzbekistan have taken positive steps to develop bilateral relations.

"Although Iran and Uzbekistan have taken good actions to develop relations, considering the mutual capacities, it is necessary to improve the level of relations with more efforts," Raisi said in a meeting with the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov on March 12.

Saidov was leading the Uzbek delegation on an official visit to Iran.

Referring to his recent trip to Uzbekistan, Raisi urged the relevant ministers to accelerate the implementation of the agreements reached by the two presidents in the cultural and economic areas, especially in the commercial, transit and agriculture fields, Iranian President’s official website reported.

Saidov said that his country seeks to strengthen ties with Iran in all aspects and described the Iranian President's visit to Samarkand in September 2022 as the opening of a new page in the history of relations between the two countries.

Referring to the agreements signed with Iran to develop and strengthen the activities of the Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation and the holding of a trade conference between the two countries, as well as the negotiations held to use the joint corridors, Saidov reiterated that “Uzbekistan will use all its efforts to implement the resulting agreements”.

The Uzbek minister also held talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and the two agreed to continue the efforts aimed at doubling bilateral trade turnover up to $1 billion in the near future, as well as fostering investment partnerships, business exchanges and people-to-people ties.

During the visit, a business forum was organised in Tehran with the participation of large Iranian companies to discuss the implementation of joint investment projects in pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, building materials, chemicals, textiles and agricultural sectors.

During meetings, the Uzbek delegation and the Iranian high-ranking officials discussed prospects for further development of trade and economic cooperation, along with stronger interaction in transport and communication fields.

On January 24, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev discussed cooperation, particularly in transport and logistics, the effective use of the Chabahar and Bandar Abbas ports in a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who arrived in the Uzbek capital to take part in the 26th meeting of the Economic Cooperation Organisation's council of ministers.

The two sides also discussed "multifaceted cooperation" between their countries based on agreements reached during the Iranian president's official visit to Uzbekistan in September 2022, where the two countries signed 17 memoranda of understanding and cooperation documents.

In January 2022, Uzbekistan signed an agreement granting the country access to the Chabahar port in Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan. The agreement aimed to create a new transport corridor for the shipment of goods among Afghanistan, India and Iran through the Iranian Chabahar Port.