As part of his official visit to the Iskamic republic of Iran,  Majlisi Milli (Tajikistan’s upper chamber of parliament) Chairman Rustam Emomali, who is also the Mayor of Dushanbe, yesterday met in Tehran with Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi.  

The Majlisi Milli press center says the parties discussed a wide range of issues related to the bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Iran, including the inter-parliamentary relations between the two countries.    

They reportedly noted with satisfaction the bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Iran is expanding and negotiations of high level played an important role in promoting the fruitful cooperation between the countries.  

The parties noted the importance of activities of the Tajik-Iranian joint commission for trade, economic, technical and cultural cooperation for expansion of economic collaboration between the two countries.

Given the development of the bilateral trade and intention to increase it to 500 million US dollars, they also discussed the expansion of cooperation in jointly implementing investment projects in the fields of energy, manufacturing engineering, transport, mining, pharmaceutics, and agriculture.   

The parties also discussed a number of international and regional issues being of mutual interest, including the latest developments in Afghanistan and Palestine, the press center said.  

Meanwhile, Iranian media reports say that during a meeting with Rustam Emomali, Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi said Daesh (the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL) is a US- and Zionist-made Takfiri terrorist group which seeks to kill innocent women and children as the Zionists do in Gaza.

IRNA reports that underlining the significance for Iran and Tajikistan to cooperate in the fight against terrorism, organized crimes and drug trafficking, President Raisi stressed that all regional countries have to join hands in countering terrorist groups, including Daesh.

Tasnim news agency says Emomali described regional insecurity as a common concern that poses risks to the trade cooperation between the two nations.

He reportedly also expressed Tajikistan’s support for the formation of an independent Palestinian government and condemned the Israeli crimes that have claimed many lives in Gaza in the past three months.

IRNA also notes that during his meeting with Rustam Emomali, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf deemed the root of the terrorist act in Kerman to be the activities of the Daesh terrorist group in Afghanistan, seeking to create insecurity in Afghanistan's neighboring countries.

Pointing to the importance of communication between the parliaments of the Asian countries at the international level, Qalibaf reportedly said that mutual cooperation between Iran and Tajikistan in each of the decision-making centers is important for influencing foreign policy issues, developing economic and cultural relations, which requires strong communication between the two parliaments, friendship groups and also the formation of a joint commission in order to establish the necessary coordination between the parliaments.