TEHRAN – Uzbek Parliament Speaker Nurdinjon Ismoilov arrived in Tehran late on Friday and met Saturday with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.

Ismoilov is visiting Iran at the invitation of Qalibaf. He arrived in Iran at the head of an Uzbek parliamentary delegation. 

Qalibaf and Ismoilov held a joint press conference after their meeting. Speaking at a presser, Qalibaf said improving relations with Iran’s neighbors is a priority of Iran’s foreign policy. 

At the beginning of the presser, Qalibaf welcomed his Uzbek counterpart. “We are very happy that today we are hosting the Speaker of the Parliament of Uzbekistan and that he has made his trip to Iran. According to the policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has prioritized the development of relations with neighboring countries and the region, especially Islamic countries, the development of relations with Uzbekistan is one of our priorities,” he said. 

He added, “One of the important axes of our interactions in the development of relations with Uzbekistan is the political, economic and cultural spheres, and as our dear nation knows, the friendly and brotherly country of Uzbekistan ranks first among Central Asian countries in terms of population.”

The speaker of the parliament noted, “We have good and favorable opportunities in the development of economic, transportation and transit relations with Uzbekistan, especially in the use of the important north-south corridor and the east-west corridor, the development of transit relations can play a role.”

Qalibaf stated, “Last year, we had an official visit to Tashkent, the president of our country also visited this country, and the recent visit of the speaker of the parliament of Uzbekistan is in response to the visit of the parliamentary delegation of our country to Tashkent last year.”

He pointed out, “In the development of relations with Uzbekistan, our priority is especially in the economic sector, transportation, tourism, communication and the passage of trucks in transit axes. However, we are looking for cultural exchanges and development of relations in this field.”

Qalibaf said he had a long meeting with Ismoilov which last an hour and a half. He said they discussed important issues in this meeting, including the situation in Afghanistan. “We are also trying to play a constructive role by developing cooperation and bringing together our points of view in the formation of a national government in Afghanistan for their people and with the presence of different ethnic groups,” he added, according to Mehr News. 

He noted, “Definitely, these visits will help to expand the development of economic, political and cultural relations between the two countries.”

Qalibaf said, “The second important factor in the development of the relations between the parliaments of the two countries is that it is necessary to approve the contracts and agreements between Tehran and Tashkent more quickly in the parliaments of the two countries.”

He said, “It is also necessary to have regional cooperation between Iran and Uzbekistan in regional, Asian, Islamic and international meetings. And with the convergence of views, positions and points of view between the two countries, this will be realized and will always pave the way for regional and international development and will lead to the cohesion and progress and development of our countries.”

===================== Ismoilov meets President Raisi

The Uzbek official met with President Ebrahim Raisi. In this meeting, Raisi underlined the need for the implementation of agreement between the two countries. 

“18 cooperation agreements and memoranda of understanding have been signed between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Uzbekistan, and the acceleration of their implementation will greatly increase the level of relations,” he said, according to the official website of the Iranian presidency. 

He further added, “The exchange of experiences between the parliaments of Iran and Uzbekistan will be an effective and positive step towards development of relations between the two countries.”

President Raisi described the civilizational and cultural common grounds between Iran and Uzbekistan as a suitable ground for promoting economic cooperation and stated, “The growth of political and economic relations between Iran and Uzbekistan in the past year has made the situation different compared to the past, but the existing capacities require more efforts for the promotion of relations.”

The Chairman of the Legislative Chamber of Uzbekistan, for his part, praised the foreign policy of Ayatollah Raisi in prioritizing the development of relations with neighbors and said, “In Uzbekistan, in line with this principled policy, during the amendment of the Constitution, the development of relations with neighbors in given priority.”

Stating that the parliaments of the two countries should play an effective role in the development of the cooperation between the governments, the Chairman of the Legislative Chamber of Uzbekistan stated, “I assure that the Parliament of Uzbekistan will use all its facilities and capacities in order to implement the agreements between the two countries.”