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Photo: urm.lt

On 28 May, Linkevicius met with the President of Iran Hassan Rouhani. In the first meeting in history, the officials highlighted the interest of the two countries to exploit opportunities for bilateral economic cooperation after Iran and the international community had reached an agreement on the Iranian nuclear programme the previous year.

The President of Iran pointed out that the country aimed to modernise its economy and expressed hope that Lithuania and Iran would be able to strengthen relations among innovative sectors, including in the fields of information technology, eGovernment projects and biotechnology.

“Lithuanian exporters of goods and services are interested in the country’s market. Hopefully, as the inter-agency cooperation continues, more Lithuanian meat exporters will get permits to import to Iran in the short run,” said Linkevicius.

In the meeting, the officials also discussed the threat posed by terrorism and extremism, security issues in the region, and international relations.

For a long time due to Iran’s nuclear programme, there were no bilateral relations between Lithuania and Iran at a political level. The E3+3 nuclear deal with Iran has enabled the countries to strengthen mutual trust and intensive political and economic relations with Iran. In 2013, the first political consultation between the Foreign Ministries’ Directors of regional departments took place in Vilnius. The second political consultation was held in Tehran in 2014. This is the first visit of Lithuania’s Foreign Minister to Iran.

This year marks the 25th anniversary since Iran officially recognized Lithuania’s independence on 10 September 1991 and acknowledged that the 1930 Agreement of Friendship between the Republic of Lithuania and the Persian Empire was in force. Diplomatic relations were officially established on 4 November 1993.

From 3 May 2016, the Ambassador to Turkey Audrius Brūzga, who resides in Ankara, is Lithuania’s representative in Iran. From 23 July 2014, the Ambassador Ramin Mehmanparast Nodehi, who resides in Warsaw, is Iran’s representative in Lithuania.

On Sunday, Linkevicius signed an agreement on economic cooperation with officials of the local government.

In his words, Lithuania is interested in exporting its products to Iran.

"It is important for us to speed up the receipt of licenses, especially for meat exports. This is also something I spoke about during meetings," the foreign minister said in a telephone interview to BNS Lithuania.