NOURNEWS- President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi left for Tajikistan before noon today, Wednesday, the 8 November.
Under the pretext of this trip, “Mohammad Taghi Saberi”, the former ambassador of Iran to Tajikistan, in a conversation with “Nournews”, while explaining the dimensions of this trip, examined the path of interaction and development of relations between the parties:
Following the independence of the Republic of Tajikistan on 9 September 1991, the Islamic Republic of Iran was the first country to open its embassy in Dushanbe, and in this way, political relations between the two countries of the same culture and language began. The Islamic Republic of Iran has always supported peace and stability in the Republic of Tajikistan and has played an active role in realizing it, and the authorities of our country have also announced that the Islamic Republic has no restrictions on the development of relations and cooperation with the Republic of Tajikistan.
Since the establishment of political relations between the two countries, so far the presidents of the Islamic Republic of Iran have visited the Islamic Republic of Iran 14 times and the president of Tajikistan 18 times, the last time in June 2022.
Speakers of the Tajik parliaments have visited Iran 4 times (three times the Speakers of the House of Representatives and once the President of the National Assembly) and the honorable Speakers of Iran's parliament have visited Tajikistan also.
So far, more than 200 important cooperation documents have been signed between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Tajikistan in various political, security, economic, defense, and cultural fields, which define the prospects of relations between the two friendly countries and play a decisive role in creating a legal framework for the development of bilateral relations.
In the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Tajikistan, a country of similar culture and language to Iran, has a high and privileged position, and this country has continuously enjoyed a unique and privileged position, and the nature of the relations between Iran and Tajikistan is higher than mere neighboring countries.
Considering the deep historical, religious, cultural, and linguistic commonalities between Iran and Tajikistan, the Supreme Leaders had called the countries “relatives and brothers”.
The official visits of the leaders and other high-ranking officials of the two countries since 1992 have indicated the serious efforts of the parties to strengthen bilateral relations in various fields.
The first official visit of Mr. Raisi after being elected as the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Tajikistan in September 2021 and following that, with a gap of 9 months, the official visit of Mr. Emomali Rahmon, the President of Tajikistan to Tehran and today's official visit of Mr. Raisi to Tajikistan and several meetings of the respected presidents of the two countries on the sidelines of regional and international summits have opened wider horizons for better relations between the two brotherly countries.
According to the will of the high officials of the two countries in recent years and with the set of actions and follow-ups, we have witnessed the growth and improvement of the level of relations in all the different sectors of relations and more than 100 high-level delegations have been exchanged in different sectors of relations.
The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Tajikistan have good cooperation within the framework of regional organizations such as the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization(SCO), and they support each other's positions in these organizations, such as the support of the Tajik government for the full membership of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization which led to the approval of this request and the start of the membership process in this organization at the 21st meeting of the Shanghai Council of Leaders in September 2021 in Dushanbe.
It is noteworthy that in recent years, the two countries have supported each other's positions in all regional and international forums.
In the economic field, due to the nature of economic complementarity of the two countries, good measures have been taken in the last few years, and with the signing of the memorandum of understanding “long-term program of economic and commercial cooperation”, the volume of economic exchanges has grown 10 times.
Considering that the two countries have a high capability and capacity in providing the items needed by each other and considering the establishment of 4 weekly direct flights between the two countries the removal of road and rail transportation barriers and the holding of two exclusive exhibitions of Iranian products, the volume of trade between the two countries continues to grow.
Bilateral cooperation in the fields of water energy, transportation, and road construction, tunneling, trade, including the implementation of the “Sangtuda 2” hydroelectric power plant project can be considered one of the important areas of cooperation between the two countries in the field of energy and economic relations between the two countries.
The Islamic Republic of Iran, as one of the first partners of Tajikistan, which has made a pioneering contribution in helping to strengthen the infrastructure, development, and prosperity of this beautiful country, has always been pleased with the increasing progress of Tajikistan and furthermore, Iran has and is actively participating in the Rogun Dam hydroelectric power plant and dam project, the Esteghlal tunnel, the construction of the Dushanbe water treatment plant and other projects in Tajikistan.
Also, Iranian companies and investors active in the agricultural sector of Tajikistan have also cooperated. Participation in the mechanized breeding of chicken and fish, the establishment of a joint factory for tractors, and the presence of Iranian engineers and technicians in food production factories are among them.
The role of the Joint Commission for economic, commercial, technical, scientific, cultural, and social cooperation between the Republic of Tajikistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran, in which, the main fields of cooperation between the ministries and organizations and companies of the two countries are specified, is important in the development of bilateral relations, especially economic and commercial cooperation, and up to now 15 meetings of the joint commission of cooperation between the two countries have been held in the cities of Tehran and Dushanbe.
Culture can play an important role in explaining the relations between the two nations of Iran and Tajikistan. Iran and Tajikistan have a long common history, values, and traditions.
During recent years and after the lifting of the restrictions caused by COVID-19, cooperation in the cultural field has been developed and very good programs have been carried out. The successful holding of the Cultural Week of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Tajikistan (after 12 years) and the holding of the Cultural Week of Tajikistan in Iran after 14 years, the holding of the Iranian Film Week in Tajikistan (after 8 years), the membership of three prominent poets and writers of Tajikistan in The Persian Language and Literature Academy and the performance of a music program by three Iranian artists in Tajikistan, the exchange of cultural and artistic delegations and the participation of prominent Tajik writers, poets, and writers at the Tehran International Book Fair, the presence of two famous Tajik theater groups at the Fajr International Theater Festival, the development of city diplomacy and concluding a sisterhood agreement between the cities of the two countries and developing cooperation in the field of tourism and increasing the travel of the nationals of the two countries, especially in the field of health, are among the important measures in this field.
NOURNEWS