Iran can help develop Turkmen infrastructure: Rouhani

Iran is also ready to provide the Central Asian country with required commodities and products, Rouhani said.

The Iranian president made the remarks in a meeting with his Turkmen counterpart Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, on Friday on the sidelines of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

“Iran and Turkmenistan are two neighboring and brotherly nations with common roots, and it is necessary that they utilize their untapped potential in bilateral ties,” Rouhani said.

He called for the presence of Iranian entrepreneurs and investors in Turkmenistan’s energy, development and transportation sectors.

Pointing to the soon opening of Iran-Turkmenistan-Kazakhstan railway, Rouhani said Iran would be a safe and secure route for the transit of goods through the Central Asia and the Persian Gulf region.

Rouhani also called for the development of cultural, scientific and tourism ties between the two neighboring countries.

Berdimuhamedow, for his part, highlighted Iran’s key status on regional and international scenes and welcomed further enhancement of ties between Tehran and Ashgabat to the highest level.

Rouhani is on a tour of the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan and Tajikistan.

He is scheduled to deliver a speech at the SCO summit later on Friday.

The SCO is an intergovernmental organization that was founded in 2001 in Shanghai by the leaders of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Iran has an observer status at the organization.