East Azerbaijan Province Governor Abedin Khorram considers the visit of the province's economic and trade delegation to Armenia as evidence of Iran's seriousness in expanding ties with its neighbors, Mehr reported.
During a speech at the Iran-Armenia trade conference in Yerevan on Saturday, Khorram said that the Islamic Republic of Iran considers the peace, stability and security of neighboring countries as its own.
"In line with developments in the region, strengthening relations with other countries is of great importance to Iran… Iran and Armenia are in a good strategic situation in terms of political and economic relations," he said.
The Iranian governor also stressed the need to improve economic and trade relations between the countries.
"The serious will of both sides is to remove obstacles to the development of relations, and I hope that after this trip, regardless of the formalities, we can see the materialization of the will of the two governments and the two peoples," Khorram said.
He also noted that "East Azerbaijan and Syunik province can play an important role in expanding economic exchanges between the two countries.
"The suitable infrastructure of East Azerbaijan, including the "Aras" free zone on the common border with Armenia and the presence of 50 border towns and industrial zones, can increase the level of trade between the two countries. Our private sector is determined to develop relations with neighboring countries, and we hope that the Armenian private sector will also take this opportunity for cooperation and joint investments," he said.
Khorram added that the establishment of joint border markets and industrial cities on the common border of the two countries could be one of the achievements of this trip.