Ayatollah Khamenei received Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and his accompanying delegation for a meeting on Sunday.
In the meeting, the Leader pointed to the unparalleled historical, cultural and scientific affinity between Iran and Uzbekistan, and said that "These common grounds should be used to expand relations in different sectors."
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution expressed his happiness with the revival of relations between the two countries after a long pause, saying, "Unfortunately, for many years the relations between Iran and Uzbekistan were very limited, and we hope that this trip and the talks held in Tehran will be the beginning of a better future in the relations between the two countries."
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has the capability to easily connect Uzbekistan to international waters through Turkmenistan and Afghanistan." Ayatollah Khamenei said, adding that, "Meanwhile, the areas of cooperation go beyond trade and transportation as more cooperation can be done with various initiatives in the science and technology spheres and other fields."
"However, the expansion of Iran-Uzbekistan relations comes with rivals, but a decision should be made regardless of these oppositions and based on the interests of the two countries bilateral cooperation should be expanded as far as possible," he added.
Mirziyoyev, for his part, described his meeting with the Leader as historical and said that "We too regret the pause in the relations between the two countries and the decrease in cooperation, and we hope that with the talks held in Tehran, we will take great steps and cooperation will enhance to its proper and desired level in the fields of business, transportation, science and technology and tourism."
Hailing the Iranian nation's resistance against the sanctions, the President of Uzbekistan added, "The achievements made by the Iranian nation, especially in the field of science and technology, which I saw parts of in the exhibition, show that a nation under the wise guidance of its Leader and with maintaining unity can overcome all pressures and materialize its great goals."
The Uzbek president arrived in the Iranian capital of Tehran on Sunday morning at the head of a high-ranking political-economic delegation. He held a meeting with President Ebrahim Raeisi and attended the meeting of high-ranking commission between the two nations in Tehran before the meeting with Ayatollah Khamenei.
President Raeisi was also present in the Leader's meeting with the Uzbek delegation.
KI