TEHRAN, YEREVAN SIGN MOU WITH 71 ARTICLES

Iranian Students News Agency ISNA
Dec 15 2008
Iran

TEHRAN, Dec. 15 (ISNA)-Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki announced
Iran and Armenia have inked a Memorandum of Understanding with 71
articles.

Energy, oil, gas, petrochemistry, environment, commerce, banking,
transportation, industry, agriculture, tourism, culture, health,
science and training are the fields they have agreed to cooperate on.

According to Mottaki in his joint press conference with Armenian
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Armen Movsisyan on Monday
energy, electricity generation, gas pipeline and transportation are
the domains in which the two countries have took big steps.

Presidents of both countries during the last 3 years have emphasized
they must expand bilateral ties and there have been good steps in
this regard, he noted as expressing satisfaction over mounting and
flourishing relations.

He also added they rebuild of Iran’s railway to run to Caucasus,
north and east of Europe and Iran-Armenia railway on the agenda.

Mottaki then said officials are seeking for holding new round of
meeting between Iran and Armenia’s presidents in Tehran.

Mottaki meanwhile explained the reason he has not attended Paris
talks on Afghanistan’s security and development was the lack of polite
hosting manners by French officials.

Over Gaza Strip crisis he stressed the international community and
the United Nations are responsible for the inhuman condition in the
troubled region.

The Zionist regime must not feel that governments and international
organizations do not pay enough attention to condemn the criminal
measures and do not take a step to prevent these moves, he added.

Over the recent years Iran has contacted with foreign ministers of
Egypt, Syria, Malaysia, Senegal, some member states of Organization
of Islamic Countries (OIC) and Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and has
proposed suggestions which are being studied, he added.

Iran tries to set up an emergency meeting of OIC foreign ministers and
Senegal as the current chief of the organization will start pursuing
the request, he said.

Also Iran seeks to arrange a meeting at the UN General Assembly to
resolve Gaza issue and Tehran’s mission at the UN is working on the
case, he continued.

Getting humanitarian aids to Gaza must be done through its neighbors
and Egypt is expected to cooperate in this regard, he said.

Foreign Minister announced Iran intends to dispatch 2000 tonnes of
essentials to Gaza by ship and Tehran hopes UN and Egypt help the
shipment reach 1.5 million Gazans.

Armen Movsisyan on his part regarding the new inaugurated gas pipeline
said "soon the pragmatic formula of gas in return for electricity
will be implemented."

Early December a pipeline beginning in Iran and ending in Armenia was
inaugurated to carry Iran’s gas to the country, in return Yerevan will
supply part of north Iran’s electricity. The pipeline is significant
since it may be a substitute for Russia’s gas which reaches Armenia
through Georgia and mostly in case it decides to cut the gas export.

The two officials have held their 8th joint economic commission Monday
morning where they discussed global economic meltdown and the ways
to make short work of its negative effects on the region.