Iranian Foreign Minister discusses expanding bilateral ties with President

Wednesday, 1 August 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who arrived in Colombo on Tuesday on an official visit, called on Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena to examine the expansion of bilateral relations.

During the meeting, President Sirisena, recalling the friendly relations between Iran and Sri Lanka and his recent visit to Iran, had assured Iran’s top diplomat that there was no obstacle to the path of development of ties between Colombo and Tehran.

“There is no barrier obstructing the expansion and deepening of bilateral relations between Iran and Sri Lanka,” the President had said.

The Sri Lankan President had assured that Sri Lanka was willing to further boost and develop bilateral cooperation and alignment at international communities.

Delivering “the warmest” greetings of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to the Sri Lankan President, the Iranian Foreign Minister reiterated Iran’s resolute will for expanding friendly and intimate relations, Iran’s Mehr News Agency reported.

The top Iranian diplomat referred to the variety of fields in which the two countries could cooperate and stressed the continuation of ties in different fields including energy and agriculture.

Minister Zarif described the areas of cooperation between the two countries as diverse and broad and called for expansion of interactions in areas of energy, agriculture, as well as technical and engineering services.

The two sides exchanged views on the latest most important regional and international developments.

President Maithripala Sirisena visited Iran on 13 May 2018 where he signed a host of MoUs and agreements on economic and cultural cooperation with Iran.

Iran’s Foreign Minister also held talks with Speaker of Parliament Karu Jayasuriya on Tuesday evening.

At this meeting, Zarif and Jayasuriya emphasised the continuation, expansion and boosting of the two countries’ excellent relations in all fields, especially in the parliamentary field, the Iranian Foreign Ministry statement said.

Zarif and his accompanying delegation attended the Sri Lankan Speaker’s banquet after this meeting. During his two-day stay in Sri Lanka, Zarif will also meet with senior Sri Lankan officials to broaden relations and cooperation. Zarif is also to travel to Singapore to sign documents on Iran’s joining the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC).