Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

Azerbaijan and Iran are two neighboring countries that have had long-standing relations, and today they continue to improve mutual ties. In this context, the two states have established the Joint Working Group on Military Cooperation between the Defense Ministries of the two counties and Armed Forces Logistics, and its first meeting was held in Baku on October 24.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Minister, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov met with the delegation led by the Deputy Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics of Iran, the head of the Joint Working Group on Bilateral Military Relations and Military-Technical Cooperation from the Iranian side, Major General Hojatollah Ghoreishi.

Hasanov congratulated the guests on the start of the work of the Joint Working Group on Military Relations and Military-Technical Cooperation between the Defense Ministries of the two countries in Baku and stressed that this would play an important role in the further development of relations in the field of defense and security.

It was noted that the foundation of the meeting was laid during the discussion of the issues of establishing a joint working group between the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan and Iran, which took place during the meetings within the visit of the Iranian Defense Minister to Azerbaijan in 2015.

Hasanov further informed Ghoreishi that Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh and its surrounding regions have been under the occupation of Armenia for many years, as a result of which more than one million people became internally displaced persons. The Azerbaijani Defense Minister added that the enemy continues to aggravate the situation at the front until today.

Ghoreishi, in turn, expressed satisfaction with the current state of Azerbaijani-Iranian cooperation in the military sphere and noted the importance of mutual visits of military specialists in the development of these relations.

Speaking of the military-political situation in the South Caucasus, including the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Iranian minister stressed the importance of a peaceful settlement of the conflict and noted that Iran has always supported the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

During the meeting, the sides also exchanged views on the current state of cooperation between the Azerbaijan and Iran in the military sphere, security issues in the Caspian Sea basin and other issues of mutual interest.

The meeting of the Joint Working Group on Military Cooperation will last until October 25.

Azerbaijan and Iran have had fruitful diplomatic relations since 1918. Iran recognized Azerbaijan's independence in 1991, and diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1992. The Armed Forces of the two neighboring countries have many times showed their great skillsatvarious international military exercises.

Today it is obvious that the military cooperation between Azerbaijan and Iran is of great importance, as it will improve the state of the two countries' Armed Forces, their combat readiness, as well as the security in the region.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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