Iran, Turkey Mulling over Cooperation in Space
Turkish newspaper Haberturk said on Saturday that Iranian officials have extended the offer to their Turkish counterparts during a summit of business leaders and government officials earlier this week as part of a raft of business deals.
The pro-business Haberturk said Turkey had not responded to the proposal. Turkish officials were unavailable for comment, and there was no immediate comment from Tehran.
The reported proposal to cooperate on the sensitive program would underscore growing trust between Iran and Turkey as the states seek to strengthen diplomatic and business ties.
Iran and Turkey have in recent years boosted their cooperation in different fields of economy, security, trade, education, energy and culture.
The two sides have exchanged several politico-economic delegations during the last few months.
Iranian First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, accompanied by a senior delegation including Iran's Minister of Industries and Mines Ali-Akbar Mehrabian, Minister of Commerce Mehdi Qazanfari, Minister of Culture and the Islamic Guidance Mohammad Hosseini as well as a number of top Iranian officials paid a two-day visit to Turkey on Wednesday.
During the visit, the Iranian and Turkish officials signed several memoranda of understanding (MoUs) on mutual cooperation.
Iran, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, insists its nuclear program is for generating electricity. Turkey, Brazil and Iran worked out a uranium swap deal earlier this year they hoped would resolve part of the Tehran-West nuclear standoff.
But the UN Security Council imposed a fourth round of sanctions in June against Iran, angering both Turkey and Brazil which both gave a no vote to the UN resolution. Despite sanctions, Turkey has said it wants to increase trade ties with the Islamic Republic.
Source: farsnews.com
