Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received a delegation led by Hossein Dehghan, the Iranian minister of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics on April 20 in Baku.

The head of state expressed satisfaction with the successful development of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Iran,AzerTag state news agency reported.

President Aliyev stressed the importance of the meetings held with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in Azerbaijan and Iran, and as part of within international organizations.

The head of state said as the result of the joint efforts the relations improved to the highest level in a variety of fields.

President Aliyev stressed the role of the reciprocal visits at different levels, adding there were good opportunities for boosting cooperation in the military field. The head of state expressed hope that the visit of Dehghan to the country would contribute to the further development of relations.

The minister, in turn, conveyed greetings of President Rouhani to the head of state. He stressed the importance of the further strengthening of the Azerbaijani-Iranian ties.

Dehghan noted that national leader Heydar Aliyev was the architect of modern Azerbaijani-Iranian ties, adding political will and resolution of President Aliyev laid a solid ground to the future development of relations.

The parties exchanged views on prospects for military-technical cooperation.

President Aliyev thanked for the greetings of President Rouhani and asked the minister to communicate his greetings to the president.

Earlier, in the day Dehghan also met Azerbaijan’s Defense Minister, Colonel-General Zakir Hasanov.

Iran and Azerbaijan have had diplomatic relations since 1918. Iran recognized Azerbaijan's independence in 1991, and diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992.

Tehran has in recent years focused seriously on developing ties with neighboring countries, including Azerbaijan which enjoys various commonalities with Iran -- religious, historical and cultural.

Currently, the two countries are focused on expanding their economic ties, developing cooperation in various fields -- industry, agriculture, energy, alternative energy and transportation.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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