YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan received on November 28 Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Armenian President’s Office, greeting the guest, the President of the Republic talked with satisfaction about the mutual high level visits between the two states, and emphasized that those visits give an opportunity to strengthen further the interstate relations based on the centuries-old friendship between the two peoples.

During the meeting President Sargsyan once again expressed solidarity to the friendly people of Iran over the recent devastating earthquake and expressed conviction that Iran will eliminate the consequences within a very short period.

President Serzh Sargsyan noted that during the 25 years of the diplomatic relations the two states have built relations based on friendship, mutual understanding and respect. The President hoped that those relations will be continued in the future as well. Serzh Sargsyan underlined that Armenia conducts open and sincere dialogue with its Iranian partners and is interested in the development of friendly Iran and regional stability.

Thanking for the reception, Foreign Minister Zarif conveyed the warm greetings of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Serzh Sargsyan and thanked for both being present at the inauguration ceremony of the Iranian President and for sending condolence telegram on the occasion of the earthquake.

The Iranian FM stressed that development of relations with neighbors is a foreign policy priority for Iran, and Armenia has always been a very good neighbor for Iran.  According to Mohammad Javad Zarif, though 25 years have passed since Armenian-Iranian interstate relations were established reinforced with close political ties, the relations between the two peoples date back centuries ago. Minister Zarif underlined that the people of Iran have special respect towards the Armenian people, including the Armenian community in Iran.

The interlocutors highlighted the strengthening of economic relations and development of cooperation on various spheres of mutual interest. To the assessment of FM Zarif, the Armenian-Iranian economic relations do not correspond to the current high level political relations between the two countries. He informed the President of the Republic that issues related to the development of that sphere were the main point of his negotiations with his Armenian counterpart. The Iranian Foreign Minister noted that the Armenian-Iranian business forum held in Yerevan is also directed to the strengthening and deepening of economic relations.

President Sargsyan and Foreign Minister Zarif also talked with satisfaction about the partnership of the two countries in international institutions.