YEREVAN, JUNE 15, ARMENPRESS. At the invitation of the President of the Majles of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of Parliament of Armenia Alen Simonyan is in Iran on an official visit, the Parliament’s press service said.

On June 15, the delegation led by Alen Simonyan met with the President of the IRI Majles.

Thanking the President of the Majles for the meeting and the acquaintance, Alen Simonyan noted that it is his first visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran, adding that the mutual visits will be continuous. He invited his colleague to Yerevan on a mutual visit.

Alen Simonyan told his colleague that in December of the previous year there were effective discussions with the Iran-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship Group of the IRI Majles hosted in Yerevan, and their continuous character are considered to be an important basis for the implementation of the joint programs of the two parliaments. In this context Alen Simonyan mentioned the meeting of the Council of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO PA) held in Yerevan recently, where the parliamentary delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran also took part. He noted that after the meeting the parliamentarians of Iran had meetings in the National Assembly, and an opportunity was given to discuss issues regarding the bilateral agenda.

The President of the Majles of Iran welcomed the visit of the delegation led by the Speaker of Parliament of Armenia noting that the agenda items of today’s private talk should be at the focus of Armenia-Iran inter-parliamentary relations. According to him, there is a lot of work jointly to do at the parliamentary level, including the boosting of the economic ties, the development of legislative cooperation, as well as the creation and improvement of transport infrastructures. As he assessed, the parliaments should support the processes of the opening of Iran-Armenia railway and highways and creation of infrastructures.

Touching upon the negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf informed about his position, underlining the preservation of the territorial integrity of the two countries and the establishment of lasting peace.

At the end of the meeting Alen Simonyan invited his colleague to Armenia on an official visit.

After the bilateral meeting followed the press conference of the heads of the parliaments of the two countries.

During the press conference with the President of the Majles of Iran Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf the NA President noted in particular:

“Distinguished Mr Ghalibaf,

Dear colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to thank the President of the Majles of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, my colleague and good friend for the invitation, warm reception and effective discussions and negotiations.

During our discussions with the President of the Majles Ghalibaf in the atmosphere of friendship and mutual trust we expressed our satisfaction about the high level of the Armenian-Iranian relations and the inter-parliamentary close ties. We have underscored that our partnership is based on the friendship and neighbourhood of the millennia, we both expressed readiness for deepening our partnership in all directions.

We discussed in detail the regional developments. Naturally, I touched upon the Azerbaijani-Turkish last aggression and its consequences against Nagorno Karabakh.

I have noted that numerous humanitarian problems have remained after the war, particularly, the return of prisoners of war, the preservation of the Armenian historical-cultural and spiritual values on the territories passed under the control of Azerbaijan.

The encroachments of Azerbaijan towards the sovereign territory of Armenia endanger our efforts aimed at the stability and security of the region. In this respect we highly appreciate the position of Iran on the territorial integrity and the inviolability of the borders.

Certainly, the important themes of our today’s meeting were also the last challenges of the transport transit and the ways of their overcoming. Distinguished Mr President, we have also spoken about continuing our economic joint programs and reaching them to an end.

I would like to note once again, as Mr President also assured the political leaderships are resolute to fully develop our partnership relations and deepen them.

I am again thankful for the invitation, dear Mr President, and I will gladly wait for you in Yerevan. Thank you,” Alen Simonyan concluded his speech.