Baku, July 5, AZERTAC

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Iraq Fuad Hussein.

The head of state recalled his meeting with President of Iraq Abdullatif Jamal Rashid on the sidelines of the Summit-level Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement Contact Group in response to COVID-19 this March, and noted that during that meeting, they had a broad exchange of views on Azerbaijan-Iraq relations.

Fuad Hussein conveyed the greetings of Iraqi President Abdullatif Jamal Rashid and Prime Minister Shia al-Sudani to the head of state.

President Ilham Aliyev thanked for the greetings, and asked Fuad Hussein to pass on his greetings to the Iraqi President and Prime Minister.

The deputy prime minister of Iraq noted that the two countries and peoples are bound together by historical ties.

Successful cooperation between the two countries within international organizations including the Non-Aligned Movement, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, OPEC+ format was highlighted during the conversation.

Fuad Hussein said Iraq supports the Azerbaijani Non-Aligned Movement chairmanship and congratulated the country on the successful chairmanship.

They expressed their opinions on the prospects for development of bilateral relations in a variety of areas including cooperation in the energy and tourism sectors and on the expansion of economic and trade ties. The discussions also revolved around expansion of tourism relations in line with the pre-Covid-19 successful dynamics, opening of direct flights among various cities of Iraq and Azerbaijan and cooperation in investments and agriculture. They also underlined the importance of reciprocal visits of official and business delegations.