Rouhani to visit Tajikistan in November

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is slated to pay a visit to Tajikistan in November to hold talks with senior Tajik officials, specially his counterpart Emomali Rahmon. “The main topic of the discussions during the first visit of Hassan Rouhani as the Iranian president to Tajikistan will be a range of economic issues," an informed Tajik source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Russia's Interfax news agency on Thursday. The source added that the exact date of the visit has not been determined yet, and the two sides are still discussing it. The Iranian and Tajik presidents are scheduled to participate in the inauguration of the second unit of the jointly-built 220-megawatt Sangtoudeh-II hydropower plant on the Vakhsh River in Tajikistan’s Khatlon region, situated South of Dushanbe. Iran has earmarked $180 million in the hydroelectric project while Tajikistan allocated $40 million. Iran and Tajikistan have recently accelerated expansion of their ties and cooperation and observers believe that the good achievements gained in area of their mutual cooperation should be deemed as a result of the efforts made by the two countries’ officials. On September 13, President Rouhani stressed the expansion of the mutual relations and cooperation between the Iran and Tajikistan in a meeting with his Tajik counterpart in the Kyrgyz capital city of Bishkek on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.