Iran, Turkmenistan Discuss Caspian Cooperation

The foreign ministers of Iran and Turkmenistan weighed plans for close cooperation between the two neighbors in the areas relating to the Caspian Sea.

In a telephone conversation on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian and his Turkmen counterpart Rasit Meredow talked about a series of international and bilateral issues of mutual interest, especially the need to boost cooperation among the littoral states of the Caspian Sea.

The Turkmen foreign minister referred to the progress made at the expert level in preparing drafts of cooperation in the Caspian Sea region, scientific fields, search and rescue operations and fighting against the spread of narcotics in the Caspian Sea region as well as deepening cooperation among the regional countries.

Meredow also proposed that a meeting of the foreign ministers of the five Caspian Sea countries would be held with the aim of expanding multilateral cooperation and paving the way for a summit of the leaders of the countries, the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s website reported.

For his part, Amirabdollahian stressed the need to expand the friendly ties between Iran and Turkmenistan, and underlined Iran’s pessimistic view about the development of these relations in all areas, especially increased cooperation among the Caspian Sea littoral states.

He noted that Iran always welcomes regional cooperation and working meetings to further develop ties, especially in the Caspian Sea region.

Amirabdollahian finally congratulated his Turkmen counterpart on the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan and wished blessings for the neighboring country’s government and people.