Chair of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova met with the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran Seyyed Abbas Mousavi to Azerbaijan on 2 February.

Mrs Gafarova welcomed the guest warmly and told him that Azerbaijan and Iran were two friendly neighbouring countries disposed kindly towards each other; not only are they bound together with the common history but they also share the cultural and spiritual foundations. All that guarantees that the relations advance in the spirit of mutual understanding, added the speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament.

Profound is also the role of the state leaders and their political will in the deepening of the bilateral relations, which is why their exchanged visits and conversations held during them as well as high-level meetings and the documents that Azerbaijan and Iran have signed so far matter so much, in the opinion of Madame Chair.

She went further to comment that the top-notch political dialogue between the two countries bore well on their economic relations, what with the volume of trade growing with each passing day. The Azerbaijani side believes that there is a potential to make yet more impressive achievements in this area. Madame Chair also expressed the intention of Azerbaijan to develop other facets of the interaction with the Islamic Republic of Iran as one of the first states to recognise its national independence.

Then, Madame Speaker underscored the roles of the two parliaments in the progressing relations and lauded the work done by the friendship groups present in both parliaments. The positive links between the sides manifest themselves in bilateral as well as multilateral co-operation. Delegation exchanges and regular contacts between Azerbaijani and Iranian MPs contribute across the board to the cause of intensifying the two-way co-operation, Madame Speaker pointed out.

Mr Mousavi thanked Mrs Gafarova for the sincere welcome before speaking of the intense interest of his country in advancing the relations with Azerbaijan as a friendly and brotherly country. While Azerbaijan was waging the Patriotic War, Iran supported our territorial integrity and stood firm in the right defending justice. Having stressed that, Mr Mousavi congratulated the people of Azerbaijan and the Chair of the Milli Majlis on the victory gained in the 44-day war.

It was said also that the ties between the high-ranking state officials of the two countries had a benevolent influence on such areas as economic interaction and cultural as well as humanitarian affairs. It is no coincidence, Ambassador Mousavi remarked, that our co-operation had attained a new level qualitatively by now.

Our mutual relations have reached such a stage in many ways also thanks to the contribution that the two parliaments are making to the common cause. Our MPs’ meetings matter much in terms of the on-going exchange of opinions, Mr Mousavi continued, stressing that Iran intended to make two-way delegation visits more intensive and the co-operation more fundamental eventually.

Mrs Gafarova and Mr Mousavi also shared ideas about the future growth prospects of the Azerbaijani-Iranian relations and went over several other points of mutual interest.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis