Iran Calls for Promotion of Cooperation with Armenia

2006-12-18

TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stressed that Tehran and Yerevan should utilize their abundant potentials to increase mutual cooperation in all areas.

According to a statement released by the Presidential Press Office, Ahmadinejad made the remarks in a meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian here on Sunday.

During the meeting, Ahmadinejad noted the two countries' ties that are developing and deepening, and called for the utilization of all the potentials existing on both sides to further increase Tehran-Yerevan cooperation.

He further viewed consolidated ties among neighboring states as an influential factor in the exaltation of regional nations, reiterating that the expansion of cooperation and communications among neighboring and regional countries, including Iran and Armenia, serves regional peace and security and progress of the two nations.

Pointing to Iran-Armenia cooperation in various spheres, including transfer of energy and transportation, the Iranian president stressed the need for the speeding up of implementation of the two countries' mutual agreements, including those pertaining to the transfer of Iran's natural gas to Armenia via pipeline, which he said serves regional peace, friendship and development.

For his part, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian assessed mutual exchange of visits by the two countries' officials as effective in the expansion of Tehran-Yerevan relations, and said that his country attaches special significance to the development of all-out ties with Iran.

The top diplomat also stressed that construction and completion of the natural gas pipeline plays a vitally important role in securing Armenia's energy needs.

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