Boosting Ties With Regional States, Govt’s Priority: Official

Tehran, Nov 5, IRNA – President’s cultural advisor said that promoting ties and cooperation with the neighboring and regional states is the priority of the ‘Government of Prudence and Hope’. Hesameddin Ashena made the remarks in a meeting with Chairman of Kazakhstan Parliament’s Committee on International, Defense and Security Affairs, Maulen Ashimbayev. Ashena said that Iran and Kazakhstan nations enjoy longstanding amity emanated from the historical and cultural common grounds. The Caspian Sea legal regime is being observed by the littoral states, he said, adding that foreign interference in the Caspian Sea affairs is detrimental to regional countries. The Presidential Office’s Center for Strategic Studies is interested to have cooperation with similar institutes in the region and Kazakhstan, he said. Touching on Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, Ashena said that if the country’s right to peaceful nuclear energy is recognized by big powers, the ground for a better and more logical interaction will be prepared. Pointing to the humanitarian plight in Syria, he made it clear that Iran and Kazakhstan share concern about Syria and terrorism in the Arab state. Ashimbayev, for his part, expressed pleasure with his visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran and consultations with the Iranian high-ranking officials and hoped that the meetings in Tehran will help promote mutual cooperation. “Kazakhstan supports further deepening of ties with Iran in different fields, especially in the political and economic fields,” he said. The Kazakh official said that his country backs the Iranian peaceful nuclear activities, adding that Kazakhstan believes that all the countries are entitled to use peaceful nuclear energy./end