Malaysian Joint Chief Of Staff, Iran Envoy Survey Co-op Avenues

Kuala Lumpur, June 14, IRNA – Iranian ambassador and head of the Malaysian Joint Chief of Staff in a meeting here early Friday morning surveyed avenues for the two countries’ military cooperation. The meeting between Ambassador Mohammad-Jalal Firouznia and General Nasreddin Ben Othman took place at the Headquarters of the Malaysian Defense Ministry in the presence of a number of this country’s high ranking military officials. The Malaysian Army, comprised of land, air, and naval forces, was established in the year 1963 and the Commander in Chief of the Malaysian Armed Forces is the Southeast Asian country’s king. The Malaysian Army has a 110,000 strong combat and over 296,000 reserve forces and in the year 2013 its budget equaled 2% of the country’s gross national income (GNI), while this year it is 200 million US dollars. Iran and Malaysia have cooperated in a number of large industrial projects, many of them in the energy sector. In December 2007, the two signed a US$6 billion deal to develop areas of Iranˈs offshore gas fields. In addition, Iran and Malaysia are working towards an extensive multilateral oil refinery deal with Syria and Venezuela. Both countries are members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and have used these forums and bilateral relations to develop more cordial and closer political ties./end