Iranian media reports say Tajikistan’s Defense Minister, Lieutenant-General Emomali Sobirzoda, arrived in Tehran for an official visit on April 15.

Mehr News Agency (MNA) notes that this visit marks the first official trip and meeting of the Tajik defense minister since the establishment of President Pezeshkian's administration.

The Tajik minister has reportedly visited Tehran at the invitation of his Iranian counterpart Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh.

On the same day, Sobirzoda met with Iran’s Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency reports that the two ministers discussed plans to promote cooperation between Tehran and Dushanbe and strengthen the political, security and economic relations.

IRNA says that during the meeting, Brigadier General Aziz Nasirzadeh emphasized the development of defense cooperation between the two countries.  He reportedly stressed the need to expand bilateral cooperation in the defense and security fields.

According to IRNA, Nasirzadeh considered this meeting a sign of the special status of the relations between the two countries, and pointed to the historical, cultural, and religious commonalities, noting that the relations between Iran and Tajikistan are strategic and based on brotherhood.

He reportedly said that global dynamics are evolving rapidly with a strong security emphasis, underscoring the need for strengthened bilateral ties and active engagement in the international bodies like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to address security threats, terrorism, and extremism.

Additionally, the Iranian defense minister condemned the silence of certain so-called human rights organizations regarding the war crimes committed by the Israeli regime against the people of Gaza and Lebanon.

He stressed the need to pressure the occupying regime to stop the genocide and the massacre of innocent civilians.

For his part, Tajikistan’s defense minister reportedly emphasized the importance of past cooperation between the two countries and highlighted the need to strengthen collaboration in combating terrorism, extremism, and arms smuggling.

At the end of the meeting, the defense ministers of Tajikistan and Iran exchanged views on various defense issues.

Recall, Iran and Tajikistan signed 22 memoranda of understanding and issued a joint statement on bilateral cooperation during Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s official visit to Dushanbe in January this year.