TEHRAN - The Vietnamese embassy in Tehran celebrated the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Iran on Saturday evening.

The ceremony was attended by a number of Iranian and Vietnamese officials, including General To Lam, the minister of public security of Vietnam, Iranian deputy foreign affairs minister Alireza Bigdeli, as well as some Iranian businessmen who conduct trade with Vietnam.

At the beginning of the ceremony, Vietnamese Ambassador to Iran Luong Quoc Huy delivered a speech, which comes as follows:

50 years ago, when the Paris Accord on Ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam was signed, on August 4th 1973, Iran and Vietnam officially established diplomatic relations. With the nurture from the two countries’ leaders throughout the ages, Vietnam-Iran relations witnessed many developments, of which the important milestone is the opening of Iran’s embassy in Hanoi in 1991 and the opening of Vietnam’s embassy in Tehran in 1997.

For many years, the two countries maintained the fine, friendship, traditional relations in the field of politics and diplomacy, displayed through many official high-level visits of Presidents, Parliament Speakers of Vietnam to Iran as well as the visits of Presidents, Parliament Speakers of Iran to Vietnam. The official visit to Iran by H. E. General To Lam, Politburo Member of Vietnam is another milestone in bilateral relations. His Excellency General’s presence at the ceremony today is a vivid example of the fact that the Government of Vietnam always attaches importance to developing the multifaceted relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The visit by H. E. General To Lam will be an auspicious beginning for the next 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.  

Regarding fields of cooperation, up to now the two countries have organized 9 meetings of Intergovernmental Committee and working on the 10th; organized 7 political consultations at the Deputy Foreign Minister level. Two countries also support each other at international organizations, forums on a reciprocal basis. Bilateral trade turnover, until before the Covid-19 pandemic remained over 500 million USD in the past years.

I am happy to realize that throughout the course of history, although the context of the regional and world’s situation has many fluctuations, our two countries have always maintained close friendship, mutual cooperation and development, mutual support in the task of national defense, construction and development. Vietnam and Iran share the same aspirations to build a prosperous country, happy people, fair, democratic and civilized society. Vietnam values and wishes to promote relations with Iran on all channels: Party, Government, Parliament and people-to-people exchange.

In order to promote future bilateral cooperation, the Embassy of the S. R. Vietnam in Iran will continue to be an important bridge and focus on boosting bilateral political, economic, trade, scientific and technological cooperation.

With the solid foundation of Vietnam-Iran traditional friendship relations, the increasingly-important role and status of Iran in the West Asia region and of Vietnam in the East Asia-South East Asia region, with the huge potentials of bilateral economic relations, I believe that Vietnam-Iran relations will witness new achievements, in accordance with the potentials of the two sides, serving the interests of the two countries’ people.

Several potentials exist to develop co-op in various fields between Iran, Vietnam

Alireza Bigdeli, the Iranian deputy foreign affairs minister, was the next one who delivered speech in the ceremony. The following is the text of his speech: 

Asia and South East Asia is one of the priorities of foreign policies of Iran and on this basis, the policy of Mr. Raisi’s administration is to expand multilateral relations with the countries of this region, including the friend country of Vietnam. 

The I.R. of Iran and the S.R. of Vietnam have had a long-term friendship and during the past five decades, the relations between the two countries have been based on mutual respect and interests which has led to the increasing expansion of relations between the two sides. 

Fortunately, several potentials exist in order to develop the cooperation in various fields of politics, economics, trade, investment, culture, tourism etc. it is quite appropriate and necessary that, with joint efforts, these capacities and potentials turn into practice and de facto so that both sides can utilize them in line with mutual benefits. 

During these five decades, there has always been a political will to cooperate in various bilateral, regional and international fields, and the visit of high-ranking officials of the two countries in recent years is a confirmation of this fact. Not even the COVID-19 pandemic could put a barrier between such close relations and the consultations of high-ranking officials of both countries in different levels. Therefore, with the continuation of this friendly and constructive approach, I am confident that based on mutual respect and interests, our relations will develop more and more with the diligence and will of both sides. 

Helping to strengthen peace and stability in the region and the world and strengthening multilateralism has always been the approach of Iran and Vietnam. The S. R. of Vietnam, especially during the period of its membership at the Security Council (2020-2021), played an active and constructive role in strengthening multilateralism and the rule of international law, which is commendable. Our two countries, along with other states, are highly determined to establish peace and stability, the rule of law as well as amplifying the voice of all countries, and to strengthen cooperation in the regional and international arenas.

The urgent need of today's world is the perceptual transformation that fits the realities of the transitioning world. Beliefs and facts that have challenged approaches based on zero sum and neutralized regional and global superiority-seeking tendencies. The insistence of some countries on unilateralism, violating the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law, and resorting to coercive measures such as economic sanctions against nations, is not a challenge directed only at some countries; experience has shown that this can be used against any independent nation. Therefore, it is necessary for independent countries such as Iran and Vietnam to support the principles of multilateralism in the international arena while opposing unilateral actions.