Iran, Azerbaijan to promote ties

TEHRAN, Nov. 25 (MNA) – During a meeting between Azerbaijani Deputy PM Ali S. Hasanov and Iranian Minister of Labour Ali Rabiei on Tuesday, the two called for the promotion of bilateral ties. Ali Rabiei pointed to Iran and Azerbaijan’s similar geopolitics and said, “currently, the level of economic exchange between the two countries is $400-500mn, but this amount can be increased by furthering cooperation.” “Iran has valuable experiences in providing health services and Azerbaijan is welcome to benefit from them,” said Rabiei, “currently, Iran is able to export health services to Persian Gulf states, as well.” “Over the past year, Iran has provided Iraq, Afghanistan and some African countries with technical education in the field of teacher training, and Azerbaijan, too, can receive such education from Iran. In fact, Iran is even ready to offer its training services in Azerbaijan itself,” stated Rabiei. Ali Hasanov, for his part, expressed satisfaction for having Iran as a neighbor to Azerbaijan and said, “the Republic of Azerbaijan has never sided with the West in sanctions against Iran, and we are hoping that an increase in bilateral cooperation would begin a new chapter in the two countries’ relations.”