Relationship between Tajikistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran is thawing and a meeting between Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif that took place in Tehran on June 1 resulted in signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on principles and frameworks of bilateral cooperation in the field of security.
The Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held a summit of foreign ministers from its member nations in the Saudi city of Jeddah on June 1.
Some media outlets note that although the conference was scheduled long in advance, Tajikistan’s foreign minister snubbed the event, sending his deputy in his place. Instead, Sirodjidin Muhriddin preferred to pay a visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran.
While in Tehran, Tajik top diplomat urged Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to travel to Dushanbe later this month to participate at a summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA).
Fars News Agency (FNA) notes that back in mid-March, Iran's new Ambassador to Tajikistan Mohammad Taqi Saberi met with Sirojiddin Muhriddin in Dushanbe, and underlined that the ground is ready for consolidating bilateral ties between the two sides. The two reportedly lauded the two countries’ shared history and huge cultural commonalities in a meeting in Dushanbe, and voiced the two countries' determination to further strengthen bilateral relations.
The Iranian new envoy said the aim of his mission is to promote all-out ties between the two nations and governments.
A week earlier, Tajikistan's Prime Minister Qohir Rasoulzoda, during a meeting with Iran's outgoing Ambassador Hojatullah Faqani, reportedly said that Dushanbe is determined to increase economic and commercial relations with Tehran, calling for increase in volume of trade between the two countries.
“Our leadership emphasizes the expansion of economic, commercial and investment cooperation with Iran. We demand an increase in the volume of trade exchanges, especially the strengthening of investments and presence of Iran in the agricultural, energy, industry and tourism sectors of Tajikistan,” Rasoulzoda said, during the farewell meeting with the outgoing Iranian ambassador, according to FNA.
Saying that the capacities of the two countries are far beyond their current trade figures, the Tajik Prime Minister reiterated, “It is necessary to take various measures, especially in the Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation of the two countries, as well as setting up trade fairs and conferences, strengthening the private sector and inter-provincial and inter-city cooperation to realize these capacities.”
Rasoulzoda also hailed Iran for its investment in Tajikistan's major infrastructure projects, including the construction of the Sangtuda-2 hydropower plant, the Isteqlol Tunnel, and Roghun dam and power plant, and called for the development of such joint cooperation.
Earlier in mid-February, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said that Tehran is eager to further expand ties with Dushanbe as it considers its ties with Tajikistan as “familial”.
“Relations between Iran and Tajikistan are deep and based on shared and old roots. Such bonds, which are legacies of the remote past, cannot be ignored,” Qassemi said.
His remarks came after Tajik Foreign Minister Muhriddin said a couple of days earlier that Dushanbe is taking efforts to improve its relations with Tehran.
“I agree with the remarks made by the Tajik foreign minister in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s national day ceremony and believe that history, geography, the past and the future and all commonalities among us stress increased cooperation and empathy between the two governments and nations,” Qassemi added.
“Principally, Iran’s policy towards (its) neighbors is an open and quite clear policy based on deepening cooperation in all possible fields and (developing) relations with good neighborliness and closeness of ties between governments and nations,” he noted.
“We seek a Tajikistan that always enjoys security and stability, is powerful, growing, and developing. The policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran during the years after the country’s independence has been to stand by the Tajik government. This is an approach that we still adopt and has not changed.”
“Iran has not and is not supporting any group that acts against Tajikistan’s legal bodies and has always sought good and brotherly relations with that government. For us, the independence, territorial integrity and national sovereignty [of Tajikistan] and friendly and brotherly relations between the two governments are a basic priority and principle. We consider our relations with the Tajik government as familial,” he highlighted.
“We hope that, using all available potential capacities and by making the commission for joint cooperation between the two countries more active, we would take effective and shared steps to broaden bilateral relations," the Iranian diplomat stated.
