“The trip to Uzbekistan was aimed at attending a conference on security in Central Asia in which five central Asian countries and some officials from other countries and international organizations participated,”Qassemi said in his weekly press conference on Monday, adding that the visit was made at the proper time.
Qassemi went on to say that the focus of the conference was on the development of the fight against terrorism, and FM Zarif made a good speech.
“On the sidelines of the conference, two important meetings were held with the President and the Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan, and the two sides discussed a wide range of issues and the Uzbek government was willing to cooperate.”
Qassemi also noted that the two sides agreed to send delegations to pave the ground for President Rouhani’s visit to Uzbekistan in order to sign a number of MoUs. He pointed out thata new chapter has opened in the ties with Uzbekistan.
“In Uzbekistan, FM Zarif also met with EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini. At this meeting, Zarif and Mogherini held talks on the JCPOA and Iran’s relations with the European Union,” said Qassemi.
“In Tajikistan, we had two good and detailed meetings with the President and the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Tajikistan, in which the issues were explicitly raised and relative agreement was reached.”
Qassemi also mentioned that the two sides have agreed to send delegations within the coming months adding that Iran-Tajikistan Joint Commission will hold a meeting in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe this Tuesday, which would be chaired by the two countries’ Ministers of Energy.
“The current talks that we have begun with Tajikistan could result in a meeting between the presidents of the two countries. Given the commonalities of the countries, the level of relations can be improved to a more appropriate level, which can happen after the visit of delegations,” he underlined.