The Head of the PFG with Iran Jasmina Karanac received the Iranian four-member parliamentary delegation to discuss advancing bilateral cooperation and continuing the two countries’ mutual support on the international scene.

Karanac opined that both parliaments have very active friendship groups and well-developed relationships between the heads of parliament. The officials hope that the presidents of the two countries would meet soon and that the economic cooperation and trade between the two countries would improve. Karanac thanked the Iranian colleague for the announced participation of Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani in the coming 141st IPU Assembly in Belgrade, stressing that Serbia is closely following the developments in the Persian Gulf and stands for peace and respecting international law. She added that EU accession remains Serbia’s foreign policy priority, which does not preclude strengthening relations with friendly countries such as Iran.

The Head of the PFG with Iran thanked Kateb for his country’s principled stance of non-recognition of the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo stressing that she believes that Iran would not change it despite the pressure it is subjected to.

Karanac opined that the economic relations between the two states do not follow the level of their political relations, so the Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani initiated the formation of a working group to develop models for strengthening economic relations and advancing trade and to find a way to set up payment transfers between Serbia and Iran. She added that the development of economic relations greatly depends on international developments conditioned by the US withdrawing from the nuclear deal and imposing sanctions on Iran which, she opined, did nothing to resolve the problem. Karanac concluded that Serbia has a great interest in developing overall cooperation with Iran, mentioning in that context the excellent examples of cultural, educational and sports cooperation.

Gholamreza Kateb, head of the Iranian parliamentary delegation and Chairman of the Committee on Formulation of the Rules of Procedure, thanked MP Karanac for Serbia’s support of Iran in international forums. He said that Iran will continue to support Serbia is the same forums and that his country would not be changing its stance on Kosovo-Metohija. He briefed the host on the situation following the imposition of sanctions on Iran, saying that the Iranian people are ready to pay a high price to maintain their independence.

He again thanked the Serbian people for standing by Iran despite outside pressure, stressing that strengthening parliamentary ties helps bring the people closer together and advance bilateral relations. He also spoke about the initiative of the Central Bank of Iran to sign an agreement with the National Bank of Serbia to facilitate in payment transactions and the initiative to exchange visits between the chambers of commerce and advance cooperation in the field of tourism.

The delegation of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Iran also comprised the Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Formulation of the Rules of Procedure Abbas Papi Zadeh Balangan and Committee member Ali Akbari.