During the talks with visiting Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki stressed the need to expand the economic cooperation between Iran and Georgia, particularly in energy and transport sectors, IRNA news agency reported on October 22.

While speaking with reporters after the talks,the Iranian Foreign Minister noted that friendly ties in political, economic and cultural fields were high on the agenda of talks, adding that Iran’s Oil Minister and Georgia’s Energy Minister, who is also visiting Iran,  are scheduled to talk on economic and energy issues.

“Given the position of Iran as a member of North-South Corridor and that of Georgia as member of East-West Corridor, the two countries are in a position to enter into complementary cooperation with each other in economic fields,” Manouchehr Mottaki said.

Speaking about the links between export of Iran’s gas to Georgia and its nuclear ties with Russia, he said that the nuclear issue is a separate case and has nothing to do with gas export.

The Iranian Minister said that Iran’s nuclear issue is quite clear, adding that the Iranian government has extensive collaboration with Russia and Georgia, which should not be considered against relations with other states, according to IRNA.

Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili and Minister of Energy Nika Gilauri left for Iran on October 22 to discuss cooperation in energy issues and possibility of import of Iranian gas and electricity during the winter period.