TEHRAN, Oct. 16 (MNA) – Iran's Oil Minister, in a meeting with the visiting Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister, called for the formation of a joint working group in order to pursue and accelerate bilateral cooperation, especially in the energy field.

While meeting Shahin Mustafayev on Tuesday afternoon, Paknejad said that the two countries have a lot of cultural, historical and national similarities, which will help bring the two nations closer to each other.

While emphasizing the improvement of cooperation between the two countries, he said that neighbors have a priority in Iran’s foreign policy and that the position of the Republic of Azerbaijan is special among them.

Stating that the field of oil and energy is one of the axes of the development of economic relations, Paknejad said Iran welcomes any initiatives proposed by Azerbaijan to enhance the level of cooperation bur added that such cooperation requires the necessary infrastructure.

Iran’s oil minister tasked the Deputy Minister of Petroleum for International Affairs and Trading with formation of Tehran-Baku joint working group and its activities.

The Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, while congratulating Paknejad for his election as Oil Minister said that the two neighbors have extensive relations, which are based on old roots.

The purpose of our visit to Iran is to review the relations between the two countries and negotiate the implementation of future projects, Mustafayev said.

“He is interested in developing relations" he said while referring to the meeting on Monday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and added: The President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Elham Aliyev, too attaches great importance to mutual relations with Iran and is committed to implementing current and future projects.

MNA/