Araqchi made the remarks at a meeting with First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Bakhromjon Aloyev, held in Tehran on Monday.

Aloyev was in the Iranian capital to attend the eighth round of political consultations between Iran and Uzbekistan.

Araqchi congratulated Uzbekistan on the anniversary of its independence and expressed appreciation for the Central Asian country’s principled positions regarding the US-Israeli military aggression against Iran.

He also thanked Uzbekistan for dispatching a high-ranking delegation, headed by Uzbek Parliament speaker, to attend a ceremony paying tribute to martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

Highlighting the friendly relations between Tehran and Tashkent and the regular meetings and consultations between senior officials of the two countries, Araqchi stressed the need to plan for expanding bilateral interactions and exchanges across all areas of mutual interest.

He also emphasized the importance of using the two countries’ cordial relations to strengthen regional cooperation between Iran and Central Asian states through multilateral mechanisms, with the aim of safeguarding regional security and expanding economic and trade cooperation among countries in the region.

For his part, Aloyev expressed pleasure at visiting Iran and conveyed greetings from Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov to Araqchi.

He also announced Uzbekistan’s readiness to further develop comprehensive cooperation with Iran in all areas of mutual interest.