On Wednesday October 18, President Emomali Rahmon received Iranian Defense Minister, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Gharaei Ashtiani.

The Tajik president’s official website says the parties discussed state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Iran, including cooperation between the two countries in providing regional security.  

Referring to growing modern challenges and threats, they reportedly pointed to the necessity of expanding cooperation in combating terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking and transnational organized crime.  

Rahmon and Ashtiani spoke in favor of intensifying the activities of existing interaction mechanisms and  implementation of the signed bilateral cooperation documents. 

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Tajikistan and Iran have naturally enjoyed a close and strong relationship with the two often being described as "one spirit in two bodies" by the ex-president of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad due to both being Persian-speaking and Iranic countries.

Iran was the first nation to establish an embassy in Dushanbe. It was also one of the first countries to extend diplomatic recognition of the newly independent Tajikistan in 1991. 

During the civil war in Tajikistan, Iran offered to mediate between the two factions.  In 1995, Tajikistan opened its first embassy in Tehran, one of the few outside of the former USSR.  Relations have since grown stronger, as the two nations cooperate in the energy sector and officials from both nations have supported stronger ties.

Tajikistan and Iran have traditionally close relations, sharing many similar cultural, religious and ethnic identifiers and Iran has been a major sponsor of essential hydropower infrastructure in Tajikistan, but Iran has angered Tajikistan by inviting the Islamic Revival Party (IRPT) leader Muhiddin Kabiri to attend the International Islamic Unity Conference that took place in Tehran on December 27-29, 2015.

Tajikistan started taking efforts to improve its relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in early 2019, and the long period of chill in relations between Tajikistan and Iran has come to an end.  There was clear evidence of that in late May last year, when Tajik President Emomali Rahmon paid an official visit to Tehran and signed 17 cooperation agreements.  The documents entail political, economic and trade cooperation between Tehran and Dushanbe, relations in the transportation sector, joint investment, new technologies, environmental issues, the energy sector, sports interaction, judicial cooperation, research and training, as well as the tourism industry.

In June 2022, , Deputy Iranian Interior Minister for Security and Police Affairs Sayed Majid Mirahmadi, visited Dushanbe to attend the first meeting of the joint security task force between Iran and Tajikistan.

In September this year, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi held talks in New York on the margins of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly. 

According to the Tajik president’s official website, the two presidents discussed further expansion of the bilateral cooperation and a number of topical and regional issues being of mutual interest.

The parties also discussed cooperation between the two countries within international and regional organizations.  

Besides, Rahmon and Raisi exchanged views “on a tendency of increasing modern challenges and threats such as terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking, transnational organized crime and cybercrime, which create serious problems for the security of the countries.”

It was emphasized that Tajikistan and Iran, as the closest neighbors, are interested in restoration of peace and stability in Afghanistan. 

According to data of the Agency for Statistics under the President of Tajikistan, a two-way trade between Tajikistan and Iran over the first nine months of this year has valued at has valued at US$175.1922 million, which is 11.4 percent more than in the same period last year.  This consisted of Tajikistan’s exports to Iran estimated at US$63.0261 million and Tajikistan’s imports from Iran US$112.1661 million.