Iran continued its attempts to foster stronger ties with Central Asian countries this week. Iranian Masoud Pezeshkian hosted the prime minister of Uzbekistan.
“Speaking in his meeting with Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Nigmatovich Aripov in Tehran on Monday, President Pezeshkian said that Iran and Uzbekistan are one soul in two bodies and have a lot in common in the historical, cultural, lingual, and religious fields,” Iran’s state media said.
Central Asia is an increasingly important region for Iran. It has done outreach there for a variety of reasons. First of all, it is part of Iran’s policy of looking to the east toward China and South Asia. It is also part of Iran’s work to ingratiate itself with other economic blocs such as BRICS and the SCO.
It is also a way for Iran to continue to build trade ties away from the West. Central Asian countries often feel neglected, and they also seek to avoid being stuck in a post-Soviet orbit linked to Russia. They had increasingly relevance to the West during the US involvement in Afghanistan. Since then, the West has largely looked the other way. Iran is moving into the vacuum.
Iran’s President Pezeshkian is focused on “enhancing cooperation between Iran and Uzbekistan, which can help bring stability to the region.”
Strengthening relations
He said that “Iran and Uzbekistan can strengthen their relations in all areas by relying on their vast commonalities between the two nations.” He also spoke about the geography of the region and the borders of the countries. “The prime minister of Uzbekistan, for his part, said that good agreements were reached between Iran and Uzbekistan to increase the volume of bilateral trade exchanges,” IRNA noted.
The report noted that Aripov arrived in Iran on Sunday to discuss bilateral ties and issues of mutual interest. “Aripov, heading a high-ranking delegation, was welcomed at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran on Sunday by Minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade Mohammad Atabak. First Vice President Mohammad-Reza Aref also met the Uzbek prime minister,” the report said.
Back in November 2024, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke with his Turkmen counterpart Rashid Meredov. “Iran’s Minister of Agriculture Gholamreza Nouri Ghezeljeh highlighted the Islamic Republic’s capabilities in providing Uzbekistan with engineering services, training, and research in the fields of livestock breeding and drip irrigation,” the report said at the time. Iran and Tajikistan signed an agreement in April 2025 as well. In 2022 Iran also opened a drone factory in Tajikistan.
