Sudanese VP Calls for Expansion of Bilateral Ties with Iran

Sudanese First Vice-President Ali Osman Taha underlined the necessity for the further expansion of bilateral ties between Khartoum and Tehran in all arenas,according to FNA.

The Sudanese vice-president made the remarks in a meeting with visiting Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani on Tuesday.

The meeting was held on the sideline of the 8th General Assembly Meeting of the Islamic Inter-Parliamentary Union (IIPU) in Khartoum (January 21-22).

Economic, political and cultural ties and cooperation between the two countries are on the rise, Osman Taha said.

The Sudanese first vice president expressed satisfaction with the expansion of mutual relations and cooperation between the two countries and said Iranian investors can play an active role in various sectors such as road and bridge construction as well as agricultural sector, he said.

He expressed the hope that Khartoum would be able to utilize Iran’s scientific capabilities in various sectors.

In mid-November, the Iranian and Sudanese officials in a meeting in Khartoum conferred on different ways to further expand the two countries’ bilateral relations.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi in a short stay in Khartoum Airport met with Sudan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Salah Wansi.

The two top diplomats surveyed ways for the expansion of bilateral relations, and discussed the latest regional developments.

Iranian and Sudanese leaders have laid increasing emphasis on the expansion of ties and cooperation between the two nations.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit here in Tehran (August 26-31) that the relations between the two countries are “excellent”, but meantime urged a bolstering of mutual cooperation.

Also, during a visit to Sudan late in September 2011, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad lauded the close ties between Tehran and Khartoum, and underlined that the two countries are resolved to boost mutual cooperation with no limit or boundary.

R.S