Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova met with the Chairman of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf during her working visit to Geneva, Switzerland.

The Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, who once again congratulated Sahiba Gafarova on the successful conduct of the extraordinary parliamentary elections and her re-election as the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Parliament, stated that his country is interested in further strengthening relations with Azerbaijan. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that Azerbaijan holds special significance for Iran, and that the Iranian side attaches exceptional importance to its relations with our country. According to him, there will be no changes in the policy of the newly elected leadership of Iran regarding relations with neighbouring countries, and the position on further expanding ties at the parliamentary level will continue.

It was said that Iran believes that strengthening good-neighbourly, economic, and cultural ties will contribute to peace and security throughout the region. We must make extensive use of the opportunities for economic cooperation, transport, and regional communication, according to the Iranian parliamentary leader, who also highlighted the importance of cooperation in the "3+3" format.

Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova stated that our countries and peoples share common historical, cultural, and religious values. She then emphasised the current development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Iran in various areas. She highlighted the significance of the agreements reached in the bilateral format and the joint projects being implemented for the further expansion of our co-operation.

According to the Speaker of the Milli Majlis, Azerbaijan attaches great importance to ensuring peace and security in the region and pursues a peaceful policy.  

They then discussed issues of inter-parliamentary co-operation as well. Recalling her previous meetings with the Head of Iran’s Islamic Consultative Assembly, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova remarked that the current state of inter-parliamentary co-operation and the possibilities for its further expansion were discussed at those meetings.

It was further noted that parliamentary elections were held in both countries in 2024. New compositions of working groups on inter-parliamentary co-operation were formed in the parliaments of Azerbaijan and Iran. Our legislative assemblies have effective relations within a number of international parliamentary organisations, including the Parliamentary Network of the Non-Aligned Movement, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Asian Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Union of the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Economic Co-operation Organisation.

Then, the two speakers talked over issues related to the Parliamentary conference due to take place in Baku as part of COP-29 in November this year, and emphasised the importance of the joint activities of parliaments on multilateral platforms regarding climate change.

Also, there was an exchange of views on other matters of shared interest.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis