Meho Omerovic, Head of the PFG with Iran, said that Serbia and Iran have traditionally friendly relations evidenced in the fact that in April the two countries are to mark 80 years of diplomatic relations. He stressed that he respected Iran’s principled stance on the independence of Kosovo-Metohija i.e. non-recognition, and the preservation of Serbia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, especially its support during Kosovo’s UNSECO bid. Omerovic said that the PFG with Iran boasts 24 members from all the political parties in the parliament, both the ruling majority and opposition. He hopes that the parliamentary cooperation between the two countries would improve across the board, both through bilateral meetings of parliamentarians and their work in international organizations. Omerovic concluded that mutual support in international organizations, especially the Inter Parliamentary Union, is invaluable.

The head of the Iranian delegation Alaeddin Boroujerdi thanked the PFG members for the welcome, stressing that the Serbia-Iran relations, as far as high-level visits are concerned, are following an upward trend and progressing toward an ideal point. Boroujerdi stressed how important it is to work toward improving parliamentary cooperation at all levels, saying he was sure that in the coming period the members of the friendship group with Serbia at the Iranian Parliament would develop close cooperation with their Serbian counterparts. Boroujerdi said that, just like Iran, Serbia has vast natural potentials which opens the doors to foreign investment and development, and further strengthens the economic and touristic cooperation between the two countries.

Speaking of tourism, the delegation members said that visa liberalization would be extremely helpful for the citizens of both countries, and attract tourists to visit them. The members of the PFG with Iran agreed with this, adding that besides tourism, economic cooperation merits further development, as does cooperation in the spheres of science, culture, transportation and infrastructure.

Agreeing with the idea, the PFG Head added that, though Serbia is an EU candidate state and obeys the EU principles of visa liberalization, considering how many refugees come from this region, he supports this and would continue to work toward finding a solution to this problem. Finally, he said that visa liberalization is also important for the business world as well as the development of economy, not just tourism, and that the establishment of a direct flight between Belgrade and Tehran would help the matter.