As Iran ian Foreign Minister met with Nigerian Foreign Minister Zubairu Dada, visiting Tehran to attend a meeting of the Iran-Nigeria Joint Economic Commission.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the low level of interaction, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said: “Iran has no restrictions on developing relations with Nigeria, and holding this summit is an important step in developing bilateral ties.”
Amir-Abdollahian conveyed the warm greetings of the President of Iran to his Nigerian counterpart Mohammad Bohari and formally invited the President of Nigeria to visit Tehran.
The Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs also announced his country’s readiness to increase cooperation and interaction with Iran.
According to a report, Iranian Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Reza Fatemi Amin and Nigeria’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zubairu Dada watched over the signing of the cooperation documents between the two countries during an a meeting in Tehran on Wednesday.
Local media reports said that the MoUs covered various fields, including culture, tourism, petroleum, agriculture, sports and trade.
They said that the agreements had been reached as part of a sixth round of intergovernmental committee meetings held between officials of Iran and Nigeria.
Dada leads a trade and political delegation in his trip to Tehran. He met senior Iranian government officials earlier on Wednesday, including Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Vice President Mohammad Mokhber.
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The Nigerian official hailed the resumption of intergovernmental committee meetings between Iran and Nigeria after more than eight years.
He said the presence of the Nigerian trade delegation in Iran is a sign the African country is committed to implement bilateral agreements and contracts.
Iran’s trade minister Fatemi Amin also said Iran and Nigeria are seeking to rebuild their ties, adding that trade between the two countries had increased three-fold over the past nine months.
Fatemi amid said, however, that an annual bilateral trade figure of $125 million does not match the position of Iran and Nigeria as two major economies in their respective regions.
He said launching direct flight routes between Iran and Nigeria will be a first step in facilitating trade between the two countries.
