TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is due to visit Baku on February 16, diplomatic sources said.

Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohsen Pakayeen announced the news, adding that Zarif will meet with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov and other governmental officials to discuss bilateral and regional relations, Interfax-Azerbaijan reported.


Iran has always showed enthusiasm for the expansion of ties with the Central Asian and Caucasus states.


Iranian and Azeri officials in a meeting in Switzerland in January discussed ways to further consolidate the relations and cooperation between the two Muslim states.


During the meeting which was held in the Swiss city of Davos which hosted the 45th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (January 21-24), Iranian President's Chief of Staff Mohammad Nahavandian and and Azeri President Ilham Aliyev underlined that Tehran-Baku relations had deepened during the past year.


The two said that last year's meeting of the Iranian and Azeri presidents which took place on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting in 2014, was a turning point in promotion of mutual cooperation between the two countries.


Nahavandian and Aliyev also stressed the need for expansion of Tehran-Baku cooperation in the fields of tourism and medicines.


In a relevant development in November, Iran's First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri and Azeri Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hassanov stressed the need for both Tehran and Baku to utilize the existing potentials and capacities to pave the ground for the further development of bilateral relations in various political, economic and cultural sectors.


Speaking in a meeting with the visiting Azeri official, Jahangiri underscored that the security of Iran and Azerbaijan were interrelated and the two sides should cooperate to deal with terrorism and extremism as one of the potential threats to the region.


He further added that the two countries' top officials were determined to broaden relations and that exchange of visits by the senior officials serves the objective.


Meanwhile, Jahangiri thanked the stand adopted by the Republic of Azerbaijan in dealing with unfair economic sanctions imposed on Iran and appreciated the country's position towards Iran's nuclear program.


He said that the level of economic cooperation between Iran and Azerbaijan should keep up with the excellent political ties.


By Fars News Agency