Iran, Austria keen to expand ties

The Iranian and Austrian deputy foreign ministers stressed the need for the further development of the relations between the two friendly nations. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for European and American Affairs Majid Takht Ravanchi and his Austrian counterpart Reinhold Lopatka, in a meeting in Tehran on Saturday, expressed hope that the relations between Tehran and Vienna would witness further enhancement in all sectors. The Austrian official pointed to the long-standing relations between Iran and Austria, and in the meantime, termed the meeting between Austrian President Heinz Fischer and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York as highly positive and expressed hope that bilateral ties would increase under Rouhani’s tenure. He added that the two countries should use their potentials to boost mutual cooperation. Takht Ravanchi, for his part, said that good relations and bilateral cooperation between the two countries would serve the interests of Tehran and Vienna. He also said that the two countries could shore up ties in political, parliamentary, economic and cultural fields. There has been a friendly relation between Iran and Austria during past years and, on many occasions, the two countries' official have stressed expansion of mutual cooperation between the two nations in various fields. For instance, early in August 2008, Iran and the Austrian company RAI inked an agreement on implementation of joint railway projects. The Austrian company was obliged to cooperate with Iranian side on completion of Qazwin- Rasht-Astara railroad at the time. Also in April 2007, then Iranian Oil Minister Seyed Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh announced the endorsement of a $ 30bln MoU between Iran and Austria's OMV which paved the way for Iran's gas exports to Europe.