Iran Says Seeks to Deepen Military Ties with Azerbaijan

The top general, who was heading a top military delegation to Azerbaijan, made the remarks in a meeting with Azerbaijan’s National Parliament Speaker, Ogtay Asadov.

During the meeting, the Iranian military commander called for strengthening of ties with Azerbaijan in all areas, underlined the need for peaceful resolution of regional disputes and protection of Iranian borders and expressed the Islamic Republic’s support for Azerbaijan’s sovereignty.

Today the development of mutual ties between Iran and Azerbaijan is highly significant, he said.

For his part, the Azeri official described the ties between Iran and Azerbaijan as friendly and said there are lots of commonalities between the two sides.

“There are appropriate grounds for strengthening mutual ties based on good-faith and common values,” he said.

He then referred to the significant role by the two sides’ officials in developing mutual ties and said over the past five years, the presidents of Iran and Azerbaijan have made 12 reciprocal visits to Tehran and Baku and held extensive talks on mutual interests.

“The high-level talks have had positive effects on the two sides’ relations so much so that the trade volume of the two sides increased from $257m in 2017 to $400m in the first nine months of 2018,” he noted.

Asadov expressed hope that the operation of the International North-South Transport Corridor would help the two sides further develop their trade ties.

He also called for tapping into the economic capacities of the two neighbours.

Elaborating on the parliamentary ties between the two sides, he said the relations are ongoing at a high level.

He thanked the Iran-Azerbaijan parliamentary friendship group and said the regular participation of the two sides’ lawmakers in international forums are highly significant for tackling regional issues.