President Hassan Rouhani said Iran is a strong advocate of peace and stability in the strategic region and makes its utmost effort to help regional countries resolve disputes through peaceful means.
"The Islamic Republic has always strived to help establish security, stability and peace in the region and the peaceful settlement of regional conflicts and will spare no effort to help regional countries in this regard," Rouhani said in a meeting with the visiting Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian in Tehran on Sunday, local news outlets reported.
Iran and Armenia share a common stance on regional and international issues, he said, stressing, "Under the current unfavorable circumstances in the region, we should increase our cooperation and friendship and not allow minor differences to turn into new pretexts for [others] to conduct acts of terror."
The president pointed to cooperation between Iran and the Caucasian nation in the fields of economy, culture, trade, energy, transit and transportation, agriculture and tourism and called for expansion of bilateral relations, particularly after the implementation of the nuclear agreement between Tehran and six global powers last year.
Following the removal of sanctions against Tehran, a "good opportunity" has emerged for the two nations to boost trade and economic relations which can and should lead to the expansion of two-way ties in all fields, he said.
Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council —the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia— plus Germany started implementing the landmark nuclear agreement in January.
Under the deal, all nuclear-related sanctions imposed on Iran by the European Union, the UN Security Council and the US were lifted. Iran has, in return, put limitations on its nuclear activities.
"In line with expansion of cooperation between Iran and Armenia in the fields of transit and transportation of goods, there are currently suitable grounds for us to connect the Black Sea to the Persian Gulf via Armenia and we are willing to offer technical and engineering services to Armenia in this regard," the president added.
The Armenian official said Iran and Armenia can use the "opportunities created after the nuclear deal to strengthen mutual relations and help promote regional peace and stability."
Nalbandian added that the two countries are currently implementing joint projects in different fields such as infrastructure, energy and transportation.
Boosting wide-ranging relations with Tehran is a declared policy of his country, the foreign minister noted.
