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Kazakhstan|politics|April 14, 2015 / 09:39 AM
Kazakh, Iranian foreign ministers review progress in bilateral relations

AKIPRESS.COM - On April 13, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov met with Foreign Minister of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif who arrived in Astana on an official visit.

The parties exchanged views on bilateral relations in political, trade, economic and investment areas, interaction within multilateral institutions, as well as running issues on the international agenda, the press service of Kazakh foreign ministry reported.

The ministers noted the expansion of economic and interregional cooperation between their countries in the aftermath of the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’visit to Kazakhstan last September, which helped strengthening bilateral ties and friendly relations. In this regard, the parties discussed preparations to the upcoming official visit of Nazarbayev to Iran later this year.

The Iranian Minister stressed Astana’s constructive role in the multilateral negotiations process on Iran’s nuclear programme and thanked the Kazakh leadership for providing platform for two rounds of negotiations in Almaty in 2013.

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As a state that has made a significant input into nuclear non-proliferation, Idrissov noted the readiness of Kazakhstan to continue providing necessary assistance in order to reach a final agreement between Iran and the group of international negotiators on the issue. The Kazakh minister also expressed hope that the political will of the countries participating in the negotiations will help push them to achieve a comprehensive agreement on Iran’s nuclear program within the agreed timeframe.

The sides noted the intensified contacts at the highest levels have created favourable atmosphere for the growth of trade turnover between the two countries. Thus, the volume of trade turnover in 2014 amounted to $1 billion, which is around 60 per cent more than in 2013. In this regard, the parties welcomed the opening of Zhanaozen – Etrek - Gyzylgaya - Gorgan railroad and expressed hope that trade between Kazakhstan and Iran would grow thanks to the new transport link.

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During the meeting, the parties confirmed that the next meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation and the Business Council comprising the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan and the Iranian Chamber of Commerce, which should give an additional impetus to economic cooperation, would take place this year.

Idrissov and Zarif reviewed the implementation of agreements reached at the Astrakhan Summit of Caspian States in September 2014, as well as preparations for the Astana Summit of 2016. They noted the importance of further constructive collaboration aimed at developing mutually acceptable principles on which a convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea can be based.

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During the talks, the sides also discussed combating international terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking, as well as Kazakh-Iranian cooperation in international and regional organisations including the United Nations (UN), the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and others.

 

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