President of the House of Representatives of Cyprus Demetris Syllouris visited Iran on Oct. 30 at the invitation of Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani.
During a joint press conference held with his Cypriot counterpart on Sunday, Ali Larijani referred to Cyprus as the closest European country to Iran, adding “we hold Tehran-Nicosia relations at high value and we are glad to see that today we have close and friendly ties with the European country.”
“In the last few months, we have reached a number of agreements that were further discussed during our meeting today,” he added.
Larijani noted that the two sides conferred on the expansion of banking cooperation to facilitate transactions between Iranian and Cypriot businessmen, adding “I saw a serious resolution on the part of Mr. Syllouris for removing all obstacles in the way of developing cooperation, and it is highly significant for us that relations between Iran and Cyprus grow in all cultural, economic, political and security fields.”
“The two countries also enjoy good parliamentary ties,” Larijani said. “Iran-Cyprus Friendship Group has been formed in Iran’s Parliament, and headed by Mr. Pezeshkian. The Friendship Group is a testament to Cyprus’s significance to Iran.”
According to Larijani, the two sides further conferred on regional developments, the current crises and ways to have an effective confrontation with terrorism.
The president of the Cypriot House of Representatives, for his part, highlighted the need for massive support from all countries in the region for establishing peace and security, adding that this would not be achieved through military approaches or terrorist moves.
He further deemed his talks with Larijani a positive step toward boosting political, economic and cultural cooperation, as well as promoting Iran-EU cooperation and regional peace.
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