Tajik president in Tehran to 'cement friendly ties'
Yusef Jalali
Press TV, Tehran
Shaking hands of friendship in Tehran; Tajikistan's president, Emomali Rahmon, is on a two-day trip to Iran upon an invitation by his Iranian counterpart, Ebrahim Raeisi.
The first day was the busiest day, which saw the two sides signing cooperation documents in a range of fields, from energy and environment, to tourism and urban development.
The two sides also talked on regional developments, both sharing the same stance that Afghanistan needs to be ruled by an all-inclusive government.
Tajikistan has been a strong supporter of Iran's full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, or the SCO.
In September last year, the Tajik president invited Raesi to his country, where Iran was finally approved as a full member of the SCO; a major bloc of Asian states that was launched in 2001 by China, Russia and Central Asian republics with the goal of promoting cooperation in politics, trade and economy.
Despite their historical, linguistic, cultural and religious commonalities, Tehran and Dushanbe have not maintained a remarkable trade partnership.
In 2020, the trade volume between the two countries was around 57 million dollars, down from a high of 300 million in 2013.
Raeisi's last year visit to Dushanbe paved the way for a surge in the two sides' economic ties, pushing the annual trade up 5-fold to 130 million dollars.
The two set a target of 500m dollars for annual bilateral trade, despite the challenges of US sanctions on Iran.
Closer ties with neighbors has been on top of Ebrahim Raeisi's foreign policy agenda, since he took office almost a year ago, as part of his ambitions to untie his country's economy to the fate of the 2015 deal.
As a country that shares many concerns and commonalities with Iran, Tajikistan is on the same page with Tehran to open a new chapter in their partnership.
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