Emomali Rahmon: Ladies and gentlemen,

We are pleased to have the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran here in Tajikistan on an official visit.

Firstly, I would like to once again congratulated His Excellency on his election as the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and express my satisfaction that his first foreign visit is to Tajikistan.

Our fruitful meeting was held in a friendly atmosphere and mutual understanding, focusing on main issues pertaining to the bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Iran. We are confident that the agreement on the new packages of cooperation documents will provide a favorable basis for the further expansion of bilateral relations between the two countries.

Our people have common historical, spiritual, and cultural values. During our meeting, we expressed our confidence that these historical and cultural values will continue to serve as a favorable foundation for further developing friendly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation. Furthermore, we expressed our mutual desire for enhancing the constructive political dialogue between the two countries at various levels, to facilitate the process of building an atmosphere of mutual understanding and trust.

We affirmed our readiness to expand economic and trade ties, and proposed the development of a long-term program of economic and trade cooperation between Tajikistan and Iran up to the year 2030. The role of the Joint Commission for Trade, Economic, Technical, and Cultural Cooperation in the process of strengthening our economic and trade ties was considered important. We agreed on expanding and utilizing business contacts as a step toward this goal.

Our country expresses its support for developing the existing transport infrastructure and connecting it through road and rail networks to Iran’s seaports, for the expansion of economic and trade cooperation. In this context, we noted our interest in strengthening cooperation between the relevant structures of the two countries for using the potential of the ports of Chabahar and Bandar Abbas of the Islamic Republic of Iran for the transportation of goods.

We consider it natural to expand cultural and scientific cooperation between Tajikistan and Iran. We are unanimous in our view about the importance of developing the legal basis for the development of tourism between our countries, and taking the necessary measures to improve direct and regular air routes and the travel system.

Taking into account the current sensitive situation, we stressed the importance of cooperation in the field of security. In this regard, the alarming situation in Afghanistan is in the forefront of our attention, and we share our view of the extreme importance of establishing peace and stability in this neighboring country. Our country has expressed its readiness to facilitate in this process.

We consider the establishment of an inclusive government with the participation of all social and ethnic minorities living in Afghanistan a key factor in establishing lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan. It is worth noting that following the Tajik — Pakistani talks, we highlighted the important place of Tajiks and other ethnic groups in the inclusive government. It is clear that peace and stability in Afghanistan can be ensured only this way.

Ending the conflict and tensions in Panjshir by declaring a ceasefire and opening roads to provide humanitarian aid to the people of the region was the main topic of today’s agenda. In this context, we agreed to mobilize all our efforts to facilitate the negotiations in Dushanbe between the Tajiks of Afghanistan and the Taliban. We believe that the United Nations should play a key role in advancing this process.

It is necessary to respect the interests of all ethnicities living in Afghanistan, the opinion of all the people of the country, and recognize the rights of citizens within the framework of internationally recognized standards. We believe that such an approach can significantly contribute to the restoration of peace and stability in Afghanistan. We, Tajiks and Iranians, as neighbors sharing a common language and culture, are interested in the security of Afghanistan more than others.

I would like to emphasize, once again, that the escalation of violence and conflict in Afghanistan with the intensity of 1990s could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe, drastically worsening the lives of its people, and solidifying its place as the center of international terrorism.

Distinguished participants,

We expressed our joint satisfaction with the current state and process of cooperation between Tajikistan and Iran within the framework of international and regional organizations. Our country has welcomed the launch of the procedure of incorporating Iran as the 9th full-fledged member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). We are certain that our partnership within the framework of the SCO will contribute to finding new ways to strengthen constructive cooperation.

In view of the reached agreements today, we consider President Raisi’s visit to be the beginning of a new phase in Tajik – Iranian relations.

Thank you!