Tehran, Tashkent having lots of capacities to expand ties

Tehran, April 10, IRNA – Iran and Uzbekistan have a lot of capacities to expand relations, said Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri in a meeting with Uzbek First Vice Premier Achlbai Ramotov in Tehran on Tuesday. 'The two countries should provide the infrastructures, laws and agreements to materialize the potentials,' said Jahangiri. 'We live in a region that is engaged in serious issues like extremism, separatism, and terrorism, so we should cooperate in security issues,' said Jahangiri. He hoped that the banking obstacles will be removed soon. Reminding Iran's strategic location in transit of goods, he said, 'We have provided huge equipment in Chabahar Port so that the Central Asian countries can use the way to be connected to open waters.' He also mentioned the Iranian engineers' capabilities to provide Uzbekistan with services in different fields, such as oil, electricity, water, and natural gas, saying, 'Iran is ready to meet Uzbekistan's need for energy.' Meanwhile, Uzbek First Vice-Premier said his country's policy is to expand economic exchange with Iran up to one billion dollars a year, and negotiate for expansion of ties in goods transit, tourism, and trade. He also said that Uzbekistan exports its goods through the safe way of Iran, and hoped that his country gets connected to Chabahar as well through a new railroad. 1378/IRNA