In a meeting with Shahin Mustafayev, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Tuesday, Mohsen Paknejad made the above remarks adding that the two countries share many civilizational, historical, and national commonalities. He further noted that in the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, neighbors including the Republic of Azerbaijan have special priority.

He mentioned that the energy sector is one of the pillars for developing economic relations with the Republic of Azerbaijan adding that Tehran welcomes any innovative proposal from Baku to enhance collaborations.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Minister of Petroleum emphasized the need to form a joint working group between the two countries to accelerate the development of cooperation in the energy sector and assigned the Ministry of Petroleum’s International Affairs and Commerce Department the responsibility to pursue the formation and activities of this working group.

During this meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan congratulated the Petroleum Minister on taking office and stated that Iran and Azerbaijan already have extensive relations that date back to the distant past. 

He added the purpose of his visit to Iran was to review the past relations and negotiate the implementation of joint projects in the future. Referring to his meeting with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, Mustafayev added that the presidents of the two countries place great importance on bilateral relations, and Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, has expressed his commitment to executing ongoing projects and developing future collaborations.

The Azerbaijani official also welcomed setting up a joint working group between Iran and Azerbaijan.