Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, accompanied by the Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Tehran, the Iranian Vice President for Parliamentary Affairs Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, deputy parliament speaker Abdul Reza Mesri and Babak Neghadari, the head of the parliament's Research Center, left Tehran for Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan on Tuesday afternoon.
Before leaving Tehran, Ghalibaf said that he was invited to Uzbekistan at the official invitation of the Chairmen of the legislative branch of the Uzbekistan Government, which is referred to as the Oliy Majlis, and Uzbekistan's Supreme Assembly.
"We stress the development of relations between Iran and Uzbekistan in the parliamentary, economic, commercial, political and cultural fields. Iran and Uzbekistan are geographically very close to each other, but our relations have not developed as expected," the Iranian speaker said.
"We will hold meetings with the Uzbek authorities, including the President and Speakers of the Uzbek parliaments, and we will also have a meeting with some of the businessmen there, and we are looking for the development of parliamentary and economic relations," he added.
He said after lifting Covid-19 restrictions on travel between the two nations, it is now the time for expanding the level of relations.
"There are many transit opportunities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the private and public sectors of the country can become more active," Ghalibaf added, stressing that expanding parliamentary relations can help develop economic ties.
The Iranian parliament speaker went on to say, "Uzbekistan is one of the Central Asian countries and one of the influential countries in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and the Islamic Republic of Iran will be an SCO permanent member from next year, and this trip is very important for that reason."
He concluded that regional security is very important for both countries, and Uzbekistan borders Afghanistan, and the fight against terrorism and illegal drugs is a matter of concern to both countries.
Ghalibaf further said bilateral cooperation between Iran and Uzbekistan in the security field is aimed at establishing stable security in Afghanistan, stressing that the future government of Afghanistan must consist of different ethnic groups.
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