Azerbaijani and Iranian presidents met in an expanded format

Following their one-on-one meeting, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani have held a meeting in an expanded format with the participation of delegations.

Addressing the meeting, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said:

- Dear Mr. President, distinguished guests.

Let me sincerely welcome you to Azerbaijan again!

We attach great importance to your visit. I am confident that the visit will be very successful and will give a further impetus to the development of our relations.

I am glad that we meet quite often. In February this year, I paid an official visit to Iran. Today you are paying an official visit to Azerbaijan. This in itself is an indicator of the fact that our relations are rapidly and successfully developing and are at the highest peak.

Today, in a bilateral meeting, we discussed many issues – political, economic and others. We see that there is a great understanding between us. We are building our relations on the basis of this understanding. I am very pleased that Iranian-Azerbaijani relations have been developing very fast in recent years. In the 25 years of our history, this has been a period of rapid, perhaps, the most rapid development. Over the period since February, many issues have been resolved in the economic, transport and energy sectors. I am sure that your visit will contribute to the further development of relations. Several documents will be signed today, opening up opportunities for future cooperation.

I am very glad that you have come to Azerbaijan with a large delegation. Of course, members of the delegations are in contact with each other, and these ties will be deepened further. Iranian-Azerbaijani relations will continue to develop successfully on the basis of fraternity and friendship. Once again, welcome!

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President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani said:

- In the name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate.

Your Excellency Mr. President, I am very pleased to meet with you. Your visit to Tehran was very successful. After it we took important steps to develop the relations between our countries. During that visit, along with bilateral relations between our countries, we also planned on trilateral ties. Tomorrow we will witness that. As part of that visit, we reached good agreements. Today we will sign documents prepared on the basis of those agreements.

Currently, there are very important issues we have mentioned. We discussed them in detail at the bilateral meeting. These topics are related to different areas, and we will discuss them at this meeting. I am confident that the relations between our countries are based on honesty and trust. As friendly, brotherly and neighboring countries, we should raise these relations to a level that would match the desire of our peoples. Our peoples have want the best relations that would serve the interests of our countries, stability and peace in the region. I do hope that new steps will be taken after this visit to further develop our relations.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much.