Azernews.Az

TEHRAN – Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Monday that his country "is a reliable partner and neighbor for Azerbaijan", the official IRNA news agency reported.

The statement came as the Iranian-Azerbaijani economic cooperation commission met in Tehran. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, who co-chairs the commission along with his Iranian counterpart, and the delegation accompanying him, attended the meeting. The parties were expected to sign a number of documents on bilateral cooperation at the end of the discussions.

Salehi said there were only a few countries in the world like Iran and Azerbaijan that are linked by such cultural and religious commonalities, expressing hope that the two countries would expand their relations further.

The minister noted that both the Iranian and Azerbaijani leaders have cited the need to further strengthen ties between the two countries.

Salehi voiced hope that the signing of the memorandum of understanding would allow to avail of the existing potential of both countries in a number of fields.

"Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s upcoming visit to Azerbaijan will be a turning point in bilateral relations and expedite the expansion of economic cooperation between the two countries."

"Azerbaijan is considered one of Iran’s important economic partners. Thus, the trade volume between the two countries exceeded $500 million this year [a new year begins in Iran on March 20].

He expressed dissatisfaction with the level of bilateral cooperation in the electrical power sector, voicing hope that new projects would be implemented in this field in the near future.

Salehi says the expansion of ties between Tehran and Baku requires a cohesive transportation system.

"In the transportation sector, the two countries are faced with many problems, to which we hope special attention will be paid," he said.

"With regards to transportation, there are many areas for cooperation," Salehi told IRNA, adding that more steps should be taken to improve land and sea transportation.

The Iranian minister further stressed the importance of facilitating financial transactions between the two countries.

"We cannot push forward with our joint projects with adequate speed, unless we have efficient banking services," Salehi said.

Salehi suggested establishing a joint bank and shipping companies as well as cooperation in opening credit lines.

The Azerbaijani foreign minister, in turn, offered Tehran to set up new border checkpoints operating 24 hours per day, Iranian media reported.