Iran's President Urges Enhanced Ties with Turkmenistan
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday expressed Tehran's willingness to expand its relations with Ashgabat, saying that the implementation of recent agreements between the two countries would lead to economic prosperity for both.
In a meeting with the visiting Deputy Chairman of Turkmen Cabinet of Ministers in Oil and Gas Affairs Baymyrat Hojamuhammedow here in Tehran, Rouhani said that Iran is ready to accelerate the execution of recent agreements reached between the two states.
"The implementation of agreements (made) between the two presidents and the Memoranda of Understanding (signed) between the two countries … would pave the ground for regional development and the expansion of cooperation," the Iranian president noted.
He further hailed the good ties between Iran and Turkmenistan, and expressed the hope that the relations between the two neighboring countries would develop and deepen in all fields.
Hojamuhammedow, for his part, referred to 19 cooperation documents signed between the two countries, saying that Ashgabat seeks to promote its economic cooperation with Tehran based on the principle of good neighborliness.
In the past two days, the Turkmen delegation has held constructive negotiations with Iranian ministers of oil and urban development as well as the chief of Iran's central bank on the implementation of agreements, he added.
Elsewhere at the meeting, Hojamuhammedow also submitted the written message of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow to Rouhani.
Earlier in March, Rouhani made a two-day official visit to Ashgabat at the invitation of his Turkmen counterpart.
During the visit, he announced that Iran and Turkmenistan have decided to increase the total value of their economic exchanges from the existing $3.7 billion to $60 billion in a ten-year period
"We decided today to triple the volume of exchanges between the two countries via railroad transportation … and double the volume of exchanges via railroad transportation," the Iranian president said at the time.
