TEHRAN – Tehran and Dushanbe have agreed to establish a joint defensive and military committee, Iran’s Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Baqeri told reporters after a meeting with visiting Tajik Defense Minister Colonel General Sherali Mirzo on Thursday.

Major General Mohammad Baqeri said the joint committee will draw the future of military and defense cooperation between the two countries, IRNA reported.

He said that the visit to Tehran by the Tajik defense minister laid the foundations for the expansion of military cooperation between the two countries.  

Baqeri said he believed cooperation between the armed forces of Iran and Tajikistan will definitely help boost regional security and stability.

After a meeting with General Baqeri, the Tajik defense minister met with his Iranian counterpart Brigadier General Amir Hatami for a second time during his stay in Tehran.

Speaking to reporters during a joint press conference after the meeting, General Hatami said there are many different grounds for cooperation between the two countries in the areas of security and defense.

Hatami said both Iran and Tajikistan and other regional countries are subject to terrorist threats.  

For his part, Tajikistan’s defense minister said that Dushanbe believed that the fight against terrorism in the region relies on the expansion of cooperation among regional countries.   

Daesh, also called ISIL/ISIS, was blamed for a deadly attack on Tajik border outpost in November 2019. Daesh had claimed responsibility for previous attacks in Tajikistan, including the killing of foreign cyclists in 2018.

Daesh is also active in Afghanistan, a southern neighbor to Tajikistan.

PA/PA