TEHRAN - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the Islamic Republic wants peace and stability in the region and makes its utmost effort to help regional countries solve their disputes through peaceful approaches.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always sought the establishment of security, stability and peace in the region and the peaceful settlement of regional conflicts and will spare no effort to help regional countries in this regard,” Rouhani said in a meeting with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in Tehran on Sunday.
He added that Iran and Armenia share a common stance on regional and international issues, stressing, “Under the current unfavorable circumstances in the region, we should increase our cooperation and friendship and do not allow minor issues to turn into new pretexts for [others] to conduct acts of terror.”
The Iranian president further pointed to cooperation between Iran and Armenia in the fields of economy, culture, trade, energy, transit and transportation, agriculture and tourism and called for the expansion of bilateral relations, particularly after the implementation of the last year’s nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), between Iran and six global powers.
Following the removal of sanctions against Tehran, a “good opportunity” has been created for Iran and Armenia to boost their trade and economic relations which could lead to the expansion of mutual ties in all fields, he said.
Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia – plus Germany started implementing the JCPOA on January 16.
Under the deal, all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran by the European Union, the Security Council and the US would be lifted. Iran has, in return, put some limitations on its nuclear activities.
“In line with the expansion of cooperation between Iran and Armenia in the fields of transit and the transportation of goods, there are currently suitable grounds for us to connect the Black Sea to the Persian Gulf via Armenia and we are ready to give technical and engineering services to Armenia in this regard,” Rouhani pointed out. (Presstv)