[caption id="attachment_142483" align="alignright" width="189"] Iranian President Hassan Rouhani[/caption]

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is planning to visit Turkmenistan in the near future, a senior official announced on Wednesday.

"President Rouhani will visit Ashgabat soon," Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Consular and Parliamentary Affairs Hassan Qashqavi told FNA today.


He noted that the exact date of the Iranian president's visit to Turkmenistan will be announced later.


Qashqavi, meantime, said that Iran will also hold an exclusive exhibition in Ashgabat next week, adding, "A number of senior Iranian and Turkmen officials will attend the opening ceremony of Iran's 10th exclusive exhibition in Turkmenistan."


In November, Iran’s Ambassador to Ashgabat Mohammad Hashemi Golpayegani voiced Tehran's willingness to do its best to promote all-out relations with friendly states, including Turkmenistan.


Hashemi Golpayegani said the Iranian government has currently focused on trade ties with Central Asian nations.


He said Iran is currently exporting $1.2bln of technical and engineering services to Turkmenistan, adding that the Iranian Embassy will spare no efforts for raising the level of technical exports.


The diplomat said, except for Iranian firms, several companies from China, Russia and Turkey are currently active in Turkmenistan.


Iran and Turkmenistan have had official diplomatic relations since Turkmenistan's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Iran was the first nation to recognize Turkmenistan as an independent country.


The two countries have maintained good relations ever since and have cooperated in the economic, infrastructure and energy sectors.


By Fars News Agency