President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mohammad Javad Zarif.

The head of state stressed the importance of holding the first meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia in Baku. President Ilham Aliyev said the trilateral meeting would open a new page in the history of regional cooperation and would contribute to the strengthening of peace and stability in the region.

President Ilham Aliyev said the issues of cooperation between the two countries in political, economic, security, energy, transport, fight against terrorism and other fields would be reviewed during FM Mohammad Javad Zarif`s visit to the country. The head of state said the two countries` views coincided in these areas. President Ilham Aliyev noted the visit created a good opportunity for exchanging views over the topics covering the bilateral ties. The head of state recalled his recent visit to Iran, saying he once again thanked President Hassan Rouhani for hospitality when they had a phone conversation yesterday. President Ilham Aliyev said the two countries reached agreement on a number of issues and signed several documents during the visit. The head of state emphasized that this paved the way for the development of cooperation between the two countries, and described his visit as historical. President Ilham Aliyev hailed cooperation between Azerbaijan and Iran as excellent. The head of state said Azerbaijan was interested in developing the relations and expressed his confidence that the two countries would reach their goals. President Ilham Aliyev said Azerbaijan and Iran always supported each other within international organizations.

Mohammad Javad Zarif conveyed greetings of President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani to President Ilham Aliyev. The FM recalled President Ilham Aliyev`s visit to Iran, saying this trip made a historical contribution to the development of the two countries` ties.

Mohammad Javad Zarif underscored the importance of the trilateral format of cooperation, which was initiated by Azerbaijan and implemented with consent of the presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia. Mohammad Javad Zarif said that together with his Russian and Azerbaijani counterparts they already started to discuss various fields of cooperation. The Iranian FM said there were good opportunities for cooperation in transit, customs, fight against terrorism, as well as tourism, culture and other fields. Mohammad Javad Zarif said this trilateral format created historical conditions for developing the trilateral cooperation among the countries and expanding Iran`s bilateral ties with Azerbaijan and Russia.

President Ilham Aliyev thanked for the greetings of President Hassan Rouhani and asked the FM to extend his greetings to the Iranian head of state.