Iran's Rouhani in Astana to boost bilateral ties

By Azernews

By Nigar Abbasova

The Islamic Republic of Iran and Kazakhstan discussed bilateral ties and cooperation in a number of spheres, as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani arrived in Astana for talks with his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev.

The end of Iran’s international diplomatic isolation, which was due to longstanding sanctions against the Islamic country, opened up wide opportunities for the country to cooperate with the Central Asian region.  

In Astana, Rouhani expressed gratitude to Nazarbayev for his contribution to the achievement of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA/nuclear deal) between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries (China, France, Russia, the UK, the US plus Germany).

“I would like to thank you for effective cooperation between Iran and Kazakhstan in the sphere of atomic power use for peaceful purposes,” Rouhani said to Nazarbayev.

The president also emphasized Kazakhstan’s continuing support to the Islamic Republic in the international and regional formats.

Nazarbayev, in turn, said that Iran is not only a close neighbor of Kazakhstan in the region but also a reliable partner.

 “We have never broken our ties even when sanctions were imposed against Iran. We have held two rounds of negotiations regarding the nuclear program and we have made a passive contribution to the solution of this problem,” he said.

The Kazakh leader underlined that the scope of the Kazakh-Iranian dialogue has a systemic character, while the main goal is to promote friendly ties between the two nations. He added that the negotiations focused on the ways of strengthening partnership in the trade-economic sphere and several priority areas of interaction were defined, Kazinform reported.

Within the official visit, the two countries signed five memorandums of understanding (MoUs) and cooperation agreements, including those on facilitation of reciprocal tourist travels, labor and social welfare, cooperation in the Caspian Sea shipping industry, and on cooperation between the Central Bank of Iran and the National Bank of Kazakhstan.

Mining sphere

The two countries also intend to establish effective interaction in the sphere of mining metallurgy. The Kazakh president said that Iran is keen on conducting geological exploration of Kazakhstan territory, adding said that the countries may establish effective interaction in ore-mining metallurgy.

 “Karaganda region has already started developing a copper deposit together with Iranian companies. Iranian side is interested in conducting geological exploration of Kazakhstan territory and we back this proposal,” he said.

The mining industry in Kazakhstan is planned to grow in value, reaching $30 billion by 2017. The country possesses the second largest uranium, chromium, lead, and zinc reserves, as well as the third largest manganese deposits and ranks in top 5 for copper reserves.

Transport sphere

One of the main objectives of the two countries is joint usage and development of the enormous potential of both in transit and logistics sphere.

In this regard, the two countries signed an agreement to establish a joint dual-modal transportation company that could lead to the creation of a new transport corridor connecting Iran’s southern ports to the upper parts of Central Asia - and even possibly Russia and China.  

The agreement is meant to facilitate sea transportation in the Caspian Sea, cooperation between Iran and Kazakhstan in ports and terminals issues, and connect Iran’s southern ports to Kazakhstan as well as other Central Asian countries, Iran’s IRNA news agency reported.

The two countries enjoy good transport cooperation. Kazakhstan-Turkmenistan-Iran railroad has already turned into an effective transport and communication system in the region connecting Kazakhstan and Iran as well as other countries with the Gulf States.

Simplified visa regime

The sides also agreed to begin work on simplification of a visa regime and stimulation of tourist flow.

Nazarbayev mentioned that direct flight between Almaty and Tehran was launched following his visit to Iran, while the volume of traffic stands at some 65 percent. Moreover, the countries also plan to launch flights en route Astana-Tehran in the short run.

The heads of states agreed to strengthen political interaction of the two countries within such international organizations as the UN, Organization of Islamic Cooperation,.

Iran is the first country among the Muslim states that recognized independence of Kazakhstan.

Bilateral trade stood at $635 million in 2015, the figure that both Kazakhstan and Iran hope to boost up to $1 billion.  Over the last fiscal year (ended March 20) the Islamic Republic imported goods worth at $87 million from Kazakhstan and exported goods worth at $137 million to Kazakhstan, according to Iranian Customs Administration.