Iran willing to expand ties with Turkmenistan
Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Monday said that the shared values between Tehran and Ashgabat are beyond their shared border, adding that Iran was fully ready to broaden ties with Turkmenistan.
Zarif, heading a high-ranking economic delegation, arrived in Ashgabat on Sunday for a series of talks with senior officials of Turkmenistan.
Earlier today, he met with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow.
In the meeting with his Turkmen counterpart Raşit Meredow, Zarif said that Iran is fully ready to broaden and strengthen relations with the friendly and neighbor country Turkmenistan.
The Turkmen foreign minister at the meeting described the visit as important and emphasized that his country has the required political will for developing an all-out relations with Iran.
International and regional cooperation, particularly on Afghanistan, holding joint economic commissions, inviting Turkmen president for a visit to Iran, transit and railway cooperation, energy, prisoners’ affairs, and the Caspian Sea were the issues discussed by the two top diplomats.
Ways of expanding bilateral ties on all spheres, including politics, trade, transport, energy, Customs, as well as regional and global developments make up for the topics of negotiations.
Iran and Turkmenistan share a border of more than 1,000 km that includes the Caspian Sea coastline. The two have been enjoying good relations since Turkmenistan’s independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991.
Iran and Turkmenistan also share cultural and historical values as the Central Asian country of Turkmenistan was part of the Persian empire.