TEHRAN - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif paid a visit to Tajikistan on Monday to attend the "Heart of Asia" summit on Afghanistan.

The first Heart of Asian conference, also known as the Istanbul Process, was held in Istanbul in 2011 with the participation of foreign ministers from 14 countries. The initiative is aimed to expand regional cooperation on the war-stricken Afghanistan.

Upon his arrival in Dushanbe, Zarif said Iran seeks to help establish lasting peace and help end hostilities in neighboring Afghanistan.

Zarif also plans to hold talks with senior Tajik authorities on the sidelines of the foreign ministerial summit.

“I’m very pleased to have found an opportunity to travel to Tajikistan, which is a friendly and neighboring country where people speak the same language and have the same religion as Iranians, in order to attend the Heart of Asia conference, have a bilateral trip and also sit down for talks with officials from Tajikistan and other countries, so that we can work together on Afghanistan, which is also a neighboring country where people have the same religion and language as we do, so that we can help our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan establish lasting peace and end fighting in their country,” Zarif stated, according to the Foreign Ministry website.  

Pointing to centuries-old relations between Iran and Tajikistan, Zarif said, “Iran and Tajikistan enjoy age-old relations. I hope this trip will play a key role in boosting and expanding mutual cooperation on all areas.”

Zarif also plans to meet his counterparts from Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Azerbaijan.

Writing on his Twitter account on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said, "Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to meet with Tajik officials and attend Heart of Asia summit initiative on Afghanistan on March 29-30."

"The shared heritage of civilization, history and culture formed unbreakable ties between the two nations and languages of both Iran and Tajikistan," said Khatibzadeh.

PA/PA