December 15, 2008 - 15:47 AMT
Iran, Armenia true friends, Mottaki says
Armenian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Armen Movsisian conferred on Sunday with Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on expansion of cooperation between the two countries.

Movsisian is also the Armenian head of Iran-Armenia Economic Commission which is to meet in Tehran. At the meeting, Mottaki expressed satisfaction with the termination of military conflicts in Ossetia noting that its aftermath will not harm Armenia anymore. He added that Iran and Armenia are true friends through hardship and happiness.

On construction of oil and gas refinery, laying pipelines and construction of power plants and dams, Mottaki said that Tehran welcomes any projects the help improve the living standards of the people of border areas and will spare no efforts to help implement development and industrial projects in Armenia.

Rendering more financial facilities for Iranian businessmen along with improving the methods for transit of Iranian-made goods to Armenia and the Caucasus would be vital for expansion of economic cooperation between the two countries.

The Armenian minister, for his part, expressed satisfaction with the current level of relations between the two countries and expressed the hope that with the establishment of Armenian consulate in Tabriz, cooperation between the two countries businessmen and industrialists will expand, IRNA reports.