Armenia, Iran to deepen cooperation

An Iranian delegation led by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is making an official visit to the Armenian capital Yerevan to increase bilateral ties. Ahmadinejad is making the visit upon the formal invitation of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. Ahmadinejad and Sargsyan had their first round of discussions Friday concerning bilateral, regional and international issues, Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency reported. Iranian and Armenian officials signed five memorandum of understanding covering a variety of fields of cooperation, including the construction of hydroelectric turbines for the Aras dam, cooperation between the Institute for Standards and Industrial Research of Iran and the Armenian National Institute for Standards as well as cooperation in the fields of social welfare, employment and environment protection. Other major topics of discussion include Iranian oil exports to Armenia and the construction of railways, which builds upon a July 2007 MOU starting feasibility studies on the possibility of constructing an Armenian-Iranian railway.