DUSHANBE, Tajikistan (MNTV) – Iran and Tajikistan have proposed establishing a union of Persian-speaking countries and regions, creating a joint committee on Persian language and culture, and expanding cooperation in energy, technology and trade, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported.
The proposals were discussed recently during a meeting in Dushanbe between Iranian First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.
Aref thanked the Tajik government and people for their support for Iran during the war involving the United States and Israel, and said the two countries should draw more on their historical, cultural and linguistic ties.
The proposals included opening centers dedicated to Nowruz, the Persian new year, creating an “Aryan civilization center” and setting up a joint high-level committee on Persian language, literature and culture.
The two sides also stressed the importance of reviving the ancestral Persian script in Tajikistan.
Trade and energy cooperation
Aref said bilateral trade had risen 50% in recent months year on year, despite obstacles including the war involving Iran, but remained below its potential.
He welcomed Rahmon’s proposal for an energy corridor connecting Iran’s South Pars gas field with Afghanistan and Tajikistan, and said Iran was ready to cooperate in oil and gas exploration, petrochemicals and petroleum product exports.
Aref also highlighted the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as a platform for strengthening trade, transit and energy links, and called for cooperation on border security, counterterrorism, drug trafficking and developments in Afghanistan.
Both sides stressed the need to establish a joint Iran-Tajikistan technology center.