TEHRAN (FNA)- Senegalese Foreign Minister Mankeur Ndiaye announced that his country is willing to improve its relations with Iran, and said that it will reopen its embassy in Tehran in the near future.


“We are studying the situation to prepare the conditions and as soon as our ambassador is appointed the embassy will reopen,” Ndiaye said, addressing a joint press conference after his meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran on Saturday.

The Senegalese foreign minister stressed that his country deems as very important expansion of ties with Iran, and said, “Iran is a very big country which plays an important role in the region and we have common stances in many fields while we can further expand our relations in agricultural and economic fields.”

In July, a senior Senegalese lawmaker underlined the need for the expansion of mutual cooperation between Dakar and Tehran in all spheres.

The issue was raised in a meeting between a visiting member of the Senegalese Parliament, Kheri Mbake, and Head of the Iranian Parliament's Research Center Kazzem Jalali.

Mbake expressed her satisfaction over the trip to Tehran and said that she hopes that friendly ties between Iran and Senegal would be improved.

Jalali, for his part, said, the ties between Iran and Senegal have always experienced "ups and downs and we hope that the relations between the two would be promoted to a higher level in future".

In mid-February 2012, an Iranian deputy foreign minister underlined the necessity for the resumption of the bilateral ties between Tehran and Dakar, saying that the reopening of Iran's embassy in Senegal has been warmly welcomed by the Senegalese media.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian hailed the resumption of relations as "a significant development in Iran's relations with a key West African country," noting that the issue has been widely reflected and welcomed in the Senegalese media.

"Our country is in the process of sending an ambassador to Dakar," Amir Abdollahian said.

He expressed optimism that Dakar would also reopen its embassy in Tehran and appoint an ambassador soon.

Earlier in February 2012, former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and President Sall, during their talks on the sidelines of the 12th Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Cairo, decided to resume the two countries' relations which had been severed in 2011.

Following a decision made by the presidents of Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Senegal, the severed relations of the two countries would be resumed full-scale.

The communiqué on resuming the two countries' relations was later on signed by both countries' ministers of foreign affairs on the sidelines of the 12th OIC Cairo Summit Meeting.

According to the communiqué, the talks leading to restoration of the two talks were conducted by former Iranian president and President Sall.

The communiqué adds that following the bilateral meeting between the two heads of states the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Senegal gladly resume bilateral friendly relations and full scale cooperation, as well as diplomatic ties and re-opening of embassies in Dakar and Tehran, based on the rules of mutual respect and trust as of Wednesday, February 6th, 2013.

On 23 February 2011, Senegal severed diplomatic relations with Iran.

By Fars News Agency 

 

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