By the invitation of the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Akbar Salehi, on April 29 the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian arrived in Tehran on an official visit.

On the same day Edward Nalbandian was received by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Minister Nalbandian conveyed the message of the President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan to the Iranian President Ahmadinejad. President Ahmadinejad asked to convey his warm greetings and wishes to President Sargsyan and the Armenian people.

The Iranian President and the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed satisfaction with the developing cooperation between the two countries, and discussed the implementation of joint economic projects.

The sides touched upon the projects regarding the construction of Armenia-Iran high-voltage third power transmission line, hydro-electric plants on the Arax River, oil pipelines and storages and Iran-Armenia railways.

The Iranian President stressed the importance of the implementation of aforementioned projects.

In Tehran the talks between Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Akbar Salehi took place, as well.

Welcoming the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs mentioned that he has very warm memories from Yerevan visit and was pleased to welcome his counterpart in Tehran and discuss the way for further development of the friendly relations.

Expressing gratitude for the warm reception, Edward Nalbandian underscored that he paid his sixth visit to Teheran in the last four years, and there were over two dozen meetings between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and Iran at the ministerial level in Yerevan, Tehran and other international organizations during that period.

The sides mutually underlined that those meetings make it possible to follow the implementation of the agreements reached by the high-level authorities of the two countries.

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Armenia and Iran discussed the works of the Armenia-Iran inter-governmental commission, the next session of which is scheduled to hold in summer of this year in Yerevan. They touched upon the cooperation between the two countries in the spheres of transport, energy, custom, environment, education, health, agriculture and culture, as well as exchanged views on the expansion of legal framework.

Issues of the international agenda were discussed in detail during the talks. Minister Salehi presented the recent developments in the negotiations over the Iran nuclear program. Minister Nalbandian expressed satisfaction with the positive tendency registered during the last meeting and expressed hope that it would be not only maintained, but also strengthened during the upcoming meeting in May in Baghdad.
The Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs presented his Iranian counterpart the negotiations over the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, stressing the importance of Iran’s balanced position in this issue.

The interlocutors agreed to hold the next meeting in Yerevan. The meeting of the Armenian and Iranian Ministers of Foreign Affairs was followed by a joint press conference.

In honor of the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Akbar Salehi gave an official dinner at the MFA.

In Tehran Minister Nalbandian was hosted in the Iranian Parliament, as well, where he had a meeting with Ali Larijani, the Majlis speaker.

In the course of the meeting Minister Nalbandian attached great importance to the cooperation between the legislative bodies of Armenia and Iran in strengthening the bilateral relations.

The sides exchanged views on the bilateral agenda issues, and touched upon a number of regional issues.

The Tehran agenda of Minister Nalbandian included a meeting with Saeed Jalili, the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and Iran's Chief Nuclear Negotiator.

The interlocutors touched upon various aspects of the bilateral relations and the interaction between the Armenian and Iranian national security councils.

The Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council presented in detail the recent developments over the Iran’s nuclear program and the
Iranian side’s expectations from the talks.
During the meeting the sides exchanged views on a number of regional issues. Upon the request of Saeed Jalili, Edward Nalbandian presented the negotiations of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement.
On the same day Edward Nalbandian met with Diocese of Tehran Archbishop Sepuh Sargsyan and the heads of the Armenian community organizations.