President Raisi says Iran determined to boost ties with neighbors

Tehran, IRNA – Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has said that his country is determined to expand relations with friendly and neighboring states, including Armenia. The president was speaking on Wednesday afternoon during a meeting with Armenian Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan here in the capital Tehran. Raisi said that the two countries have good capacities that they can use to expand their ties in different fields such as transport, energy, industry, agriculture, as well as technical and engineering services. He called on the Iran-Armenia Joint Economic Committee to assess further grounds of mutual cooperation. The president also referred to parliamentary relations between Tehran and Yerevan, saying that those relations play an effective and constructive role in the promotion of cooperation between the two states. Raisi spoke about Iran’s role in promoting regional peace and security too. He said that the Islamic Republic’s basic policy is to support territorial integrity and national sovereignty of all regional countries, adding that Iran backs any initiative which promotes peace and tranquility involving regional nations. "We believe that dialog among regional countries is the best way to resolve issues, and foreigners' interference and presence not only solve problems but also complicate them," the president said. On his part, the Armenian parliament speaker said that his country attaches paramount importance to expanding relations with Iran in the fields of economy, trade and transit, while there are also other capacities the two sides can use to boost cooperation. Simonyan thanked Iran for its constructive stance on regional developments, and expressed hope that Tehran could play a more active role in future. Before meeting with President Raisi, the Armenian parliament speaker held talks with his Iranian Counterpart Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf. Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish