Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met with Kitack Lim, the secretary general of the International Maritime Organization, in Tehran on Saturday. The two sides exchanged views on ways to bolster cooperation between Iran and the international organization, Mehr News Agency reported. Before meeting Zarif, Lim, who was in Tehran to attend a forum titled “IMO 70: Our Heritage – Better Shipping for a Better Future,” had appreciated Iran’s efforts in confronting Somalia’s pirates and guaranteeing security of the western part of the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden.
“Iran has made significant progress in shipping and maritime industry, and has contributed to a more secure maritime environment by confronting pirates,” Lim told the forum.
IMO was founded 70 years ago with the goal of safe, secure and efficient shipping on clean oceans.
The plan to create the UN-affiliated organization was ratified at a conference in London in 1948 and officially began its activity ten years later.
Out of 174 member states of IMO, 154 are adjacent to seas and waterways. The membership of 20 landlocked countries in the organization, however, indicates its importance in global maritime trade.
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