FARS News Agency, Iran June 3, 2017 Saturday Iran, Armenia Opt for Broadening of Mutual Cooperation TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mahmoud Vaezi and Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Vache Gabrielyan in a meeting in Russia underlined the need for deepening of bilateral relations. During the meeting on the sidelines of the 21st St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2017) in Russia, Vaezi and Gabrielyan explored avenues for bolstering and reinvigorating mutual cooperation between the two countries. During the meeting, Vaezi hailed good relations between Tehran and Yerevan, and said, "The agreements reached during President Hassan Rouhani's trip to Armenia last year should be made operational. He expressed hope that during the upcoming visit to Iran by Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, the two sides will build upon previous agreements to further ties. Iranian minister also pointed to the rise in the volume of trade between Iran and Armenia and the Information and communication technology (ICT) cooperation between the two nations, and said, "Iran is committed to all of its agreements." Gabrielyan, on his part, said Iran is the most important country for Armenia and he will do his best to develop bilateral ties between Yerevan and Tehran. He went on to say that Iran-Armenia cooperation in electricity exchange and linking electricity network to Georgia is a way to maintain ties. In relevant remarks last week, Armenian President Serzh Sargysyan called for expanding all-out relations between Yerevan and Tehran. "I am confident that during your tenure in office, the friendly neighborly Iran will continue to develop upward, bringing its considerable and important contribution to the regional peace and stability," President Sargysyan said in a congratulatory message to his Iranian counterpart on his reelection. "I am hopeful that through our joint efforts, the traditionally warm and friendly Armenian-Iranian relations will continue to develop and strengthen in all areas, registering a qualitatively new level of cooperation between our peoples," he added. In late February, Tehran and Yerevan signed an agreement to boost their cooperation in the field of customs affairs. The cooperation pact was sealed by Head of Iran's Customs Administration Massoud Karbasian and Chairman of Armenia's State Revenue Committee Vardan Harutyunyan in Yerevan. According to the agreement, the two countries will promote cooperation on custom regulations, products' value and classification, enforcing rules and transportation rules. Both sides discussed challenges and cross-border trade opportunities and the ways to foster trade relations Upon implementation of all provisions of the newly-signed protocol, all information, requests as well as customs and trade documents between Iran and Armenia need to be provided in accordance with national laws of both sides. As per the agreement, every three months as well as on an annual basis, the two parties will exchange customs statistics data on bilateral trade turnover. The cooperation pact will provide the necessary grounds for facilitating and expanding trade between Tehran and Yerevan as will also open a new chapter in trade relations, which will in turn, elevate bilateral economic ties between the two countries. Export the Islamic Republic of Iran to Armenia amounted to $179.103 million in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended March 21) and Iran's imports from Armenia during the same period stood at $20.892 million.