Iran deepens Central Asia ties amid shift away from western economies - analysis

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke with his Turkmen counterpart Rashid Meredov on Wednesday, according to Iranian state media.

The discussions with Turkmenistan are part of Iran’s wider outreach to Central Asia. Tehran wants to improve trade ties and also a north-south economic corridor. Iran’s IRNA reported that “Iran’s Minister of Agriculture Gholamreza Nouri Ghezeljeh highlighted the Islamic Republic’s capabilities in providing Uzbekistan with engineering services, training, and research in the fields of livestock breeding and drip irrigation.”

The two reports illustrate how Iran is focused on policies in the East, including ties with China, Pakistan, and Central Asia. Araghchi also recently visited Pakistan to improve ties.

The talks with Central Asian states come after a recent BRICS meeting, which Iran attended. Tehran is focusing on these partnerships as it seeks distance from the West and Western economies. In talks with Meredov, Araghchi “called for expanding bilateral relations in various political, economic, scientific, and cultural fields.”

Both sides expressed their countries’ determination to expand relations in political, economic, scientific, and cultural fields,” said Iranian media.

The reports added that “Araghchi described the relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Turkmenistan as growing and progressing positively.” These high-level meetings with Iranian officials, which have taken place over the past few years, have pleased Turkmenistan.

Security ties with Pakistan

The Iranian outreach has extended to Uzbekistan as well; Ghezeljeh hosted the Ambassador of Uzbekistan in Tehran, Nasriev Fariddin Badriddinovich on Thursday.

“Ghezeljeh stated that given the shared cultural, religious, and historical interests between the two countries, the development of economic relations and the increase of trade exchanges are of special importance,” the report at IRNA read.

Iran is hoping that its technology can help Uzbekistan.

“Construction of low-cost greenhouses, the establishment of storage and cold storage warehouses for agricultural products, processing, and complementary industries, as well as technology for disinfecting agricultural products, are among the services that the Islamic Republic can offer,” he said.

Tehran wants to rapidly increase trade with countries in Central Asia. Iran also wants to develop more air and railway links to these countries, which altogether has an important impact on Iran’s regional strategy.

Another target of Iranian outreach is Pakistan.

“Iran’s Deputy Defense Minister Brigadier-General Hojatollah Qureishi said Iran has excellent coordination with Pakistan in confronting terrorists, and the two countries are fighting terrorist threats with utmost coordination,” Iran’s Mehr news reported.

“We have good relations with Pakistan at various levels and have always had closer cooperation with Pakistani officials in the fields of defense and security,” Qureishi said. “The purpose of this visit [to Islamabad] is to develop and strengthen relations between the two countries in these areas.”