Iran’s President Hassan Rohani (R) speaks with Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian in Tehran

Iran’s President Hassan Rohani says the Islamic Republic will seek to expand relations with Armenia

TEHRAN—“The relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Armenia have always been friendly, close and based on mutual interests, and definitely in the future, Tehran’s efforts will focus on deepening relations and improving cooperation in all sectors,” President Hassan Rohani said in a meeting with Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian in Tehran on Monday, reports Press TV.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has always expanded interaction with Armenia based on cultural and civilizational commonalities…,” the Iranian president said.

Rohani noted Armenia’s friendly positions adopted vis-à-vis Iran in the international scene.

For his part, Sarkisian underscored two decades of effective and constructive cooperation between Tehran and Yerevan, Press TV reports.

Iran has bartered more than 1.5 billion cubic meters of gas with Armenia’s electricity over the past six years.

The National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) said recently that around 1.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas has been traded with Armenian electricity during the 2007-2012 period.

Last year, the Islamic Republic exchanged some 481 million cubic meters of gas with the neighboring country’s electricity, the largest amount of bartering between Iran and Armenia in six years.

According to Public Radio of Armenia (Armradio.am), within the Sarkisian – Rohani meeting the Nagorno Karabakh Conflict was also discussed

The Media and Public Relations Department of the Office of the President of the Republic of Armenia informed that after the President of Iran expressed his gratitude to President Serzh Sarkisian for accepting the invitation and attending the inauguration ceremony, Serzh Sarkisian congratulated Hassan Rohani on the occasion of his election and wished him prolific activity and success in that sublime and responsible position.

The Presidents of the two countries discussed a wide scope of issues regarding both the bilateral and multilateral relations. The Presidents underscored that the agenda of Armenian-Iranian cooperation is very rich. Among other things, the interlocutors touched upon regional issues and the current state of the negotiations process regarding the Nagorno Karabakh conflict in particular.