Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, heading a high-ranking political-economic delegation, arrived in the Turkmen capital Ashkhabad on Saturday.

The Iranian foreign minister was greeted upon his arrival by his Turkmen counterpart Rashid Bardif.

Tehran-Ashkhabad cooperation in the field of transferring oil and gas to consumer markets is a successful model of regional joint action and will be reviewed in this visit.

Iran and Turkmenistan are neighbors, with 1700 kilometers of common borders both on land and at sea, that play an important role in linking Central Asia, Europe, and the Persian Gulf. In this regard both Tehran and Ashkhabad can benefit from the potential of the other side to broaden their relations with other countries.

Iran opened the Mashhad-Sarakhs-Tejan railway in 1996 in the framework of regional cooperation, thus connecting Iran's rail network to Turkmenistan and other Central Asian countries.

This positive development has caused the expansion of economic ties between Iran and regional countries. As a result of this development, each year 2 million tons of goods are transferred through regional countries. In the first six months of the year 2002 alone Iran ranked third among countries importing and eighth among countries exporting goods to Turkmenistan.

In addition, Turkmenistan and Iran share similar views in regard to devising a legal regime for the Caspian Sea. For this reason, Mahdi Safari, Iran's special envoy for Caspian affairs, is accompanying the foreign minister on the visit.

Turkmenistan made efforts to reach an agreement on the legal regime of the Caspian Sea by holding a summit of the leaders of the five littoral states in 2002 in Ashkhabad.

Meanwhile, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan have differences about the ownership and manner of exploitation of some oil and gas fields. These differences have had a negative impact on the two countries' relations. A gathering of the working group of the five littoral countries that was scheduled for last year was even cancelled due to the rising tension between the two countries. Now Iran is acting as a mediator between Ashkhabad and Baku and making efforts to pave the way for holding the upcoming working group meeting in Baku.

Kharrazi's visit to Baku gives both sides a good chance to promote bilateral and multilateral relations.