Georgian MPs Visit Iran
Iran nuclear deal is opening a “new chapter”, which will also help to expand political and economic cooperation between Tehran and Tbilisi, Iranian Parliament speaker Ali Larijani said at a meeting with a group of Georgian lawmakers on Sunday.
Parliamentary delegation, led by vice-speaker Gubaz Sanikidze, is visiting Iran, where the Georgian MPs met their Iranian counterparts, as well as First Deputy Foreign Minister Morteza Sarmadi and head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Massoud Soltanifar.
Both countries will benefit from expanding ties, speaker of Iran’s parliament Ali Larijani said, according to the Iranian state news agency IRNA.
Georgian parliament vice-speaker Gubaz Sanikidze said that the Vienna agreement reached between Tehran and major powers last month, which may lead to Iran sanctions relief, creates “huge opportunities”, including for Georgia.
“There is a huge desire and readiness from the both side to expand cooperation,” he said, adding that transit of Iran’s energy resources via Georgia would be of “strategic importance” for Georgia, including because of its “security dimension.”
The visit of the Georgian delegations, which includes lawmakers from both parliamentary majority and minority groups, comes less than week after six Iranian lawmakers visited Georgia.
Georgian Parliament Speaker, Davit Usupashvili, visited Iran in January, 2015 and Georgia’s Economy Minister and deputy PM, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, was in Tehran in May, 2015.