Tashkent, 15 September 2022(TDI): President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Dr. Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi, and the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, signed on Wednesday the 17 documents & memoranda of understanding on cooperation.

17 memoranda of understanding and cooperation documents and a Joint Statement were signed between the high officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Uzbekistan Thursday.

Remarks of President of Iran

Upon his arrival to Uzbekistan, President Ayatollah Raisi visited Samarkand, a city in southeastern Uzbekistan, and expressed his satisfaction on witnessing the most historical place in Uzbekistan.

In his statement, he said that “In recent years, especially during the prime minister’s term and now during your presidency, Uzbekistan has made good progress”.

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He also congratulated the country on its Independence anniversary. Highlighting the regional and neighborly relations between Iran and Uzbekistan, he said, “The relations between the two countries are deep, cultural, and civilizational, so we consider Uzbekistan’s progress as our own progress, and we do not see any obstacle to the development of relations between the two countries”.

In addition, he also marked out that the development of cultural and civilizational relations holds an integral part while developing relations between the countries.

“The development of relations in the field of civilization can be a suitable platform for accelerating the development of bilateral relations in other fields,” he said.

Referring to the sanctions imposed on Uzbekistan in recent years, he remarked that “the Iranian people decided to turn threats into opportunities and as a result of the efforts made, many capacities have been created in the Islamic Republic, based on which there is a readiness to increase bilateral relations in various fields, especially in the field of commercial and economic exchanges”.

Moreover, the President also described the transit and transportation areas that have good capacities for expanding cooperation between the two countries.

He said that Uzbekistan has “potentials in the field of energy to cooperate with Uzbekistan, and I hope that good steps will be taken in this field with the negotiations between the officials of the two countries in the energy sector and the understandings reached”.

Talking about the signing of 17 memoranda, he noted that the document will manifest further strengthening of relations between the countries, especially in agriculture where the Republic of Iran has had a good experience in the past.

Importantly, the President highlighted that the Volume of commercial exchanges between the two sides can be increased 3 to 4 times from the current $500 million in the first step with good determination by both countries.

He also raised concern over security issues that includes organized crime, countering drug trafficking, and terrorism.

The president of Iran also highlighted the problems people in Afghanistan have been facing. The 20 years’ presence of Americans, he stressed, are the main reasons behind the crises.

Furthermore, the President thanked the positive vote and favorable opinion of Uzbekistan for the Islamic Republic of Iran becoming a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the President of Uzbekistan, also expressed his gratitude for the historic meeting with the President of Iran and showed his dedication to working to establish and maintain good bilateral relations.

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