TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian held bilateral meetings with the foreign ministers of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan ahead of the Wednesday meeting on Afghanistan in Tehran.

Amir Abdollahian and his Turkmen counterpart Rashid Meredov exchanged views over bilateral relations, regional issues, including Afghanistan and international developments. The meeting happened at the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.

In the meeting, Amir Abdollahian congratulated Meredov on the occasion of Turkmenistan’s 30th independence anniversary. He said the new government in Iran is determined to expand relations with neighboring countries, expressing satisfaction with the growing relations between Iran and Turkmenistan in recent months. Amir Abdollahian also noted the importance of developing cooperation between the two nations in political, economic, cultural and other fields, according to the Iranian foreign ministry. 

The Turkmen foreign minister also described relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Turkmenistan as long-standing, good and very close.

"The president of Turkmenistan has always stressed the importance of developing bilateral relations between the two countries," he said. Meredov stressed that Turkmenistan attaches special importance to developing its relations with neighboring countries in designing its foreign policy and, in this regard, Iran has a special place and Turkmenistan is determined to upgrade its relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran to a strategic level. Amir Abdollahian and his Turkmen counterpart also reviewed the latest developments related to the Caspian Sea and transport cooperation between the two countries.

The top Iranian diplomat said the cooperation between Iran and Turkmenistan and the two countries’ synergy in the fields of transportation and transit, including road, rail and sea, will guarantee the benefits of both nations.

Amir Abdollahian noted the importance of expanding the cooperation.

The two sides also stressed that the Caspian Sea is the sea of friendship and it is non-military and belongs to all littoral states. They noted that the littoral states should enjoy its economic benefits.

Turkmenistan’s foreign minister visited Tehran to hold political consultations with the Islamic Republic, attending the meeting of foreign ministers of Afghanistan’s neighboring countries and the 16th meeting of the Joint Economic Cooperation Commission. Meredov invited Iran’s foreign minister to visit Turkmenistan.

Amir Abdollahian also met with his Tajik counterpart Sirojiddin Muhriddin. 

The top Iranian diplomat referred to the meeting of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighbors in Tehran on Wednesday, emphasizing Iran's view on the formation of an inclusive government with the participation of all ethnic groups in Afghanistan. He expressed hope that this meeting can take effective steps so that the will of the people of Afghanistan will be realized, and contribute to the stability, peace and development of the country.

Muhriddin thanked Iran for the invitation to take part in the meeting of Afghanistan's neighbors and expressed satisfaction with the presence of the Iranian president and his accompanying high-level delegation at the SCO summit in Tajikistan. He stressed the need to implement the agreements reached between the two presidents in Tajikistan, and described as important the thirty-year relations between the two countries.