Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref arrived in Tashkent Tuesday on a three-day official visit. Aref, leading a 60-member political and economic delegation, was welcomed by the Uzbek prime minister.
The caretaker of the Ministry of Roads and Transportation, commerce minister, deputy foreign minister, managing director of the National Iranian Petrochemical Company and Iran's Special Envoy for Caspian Sea Affairs Mehdi Safari as well as a number of businessmen are accompanying the first vice president in this trip.
Aref and his accompanying delegation are expected to hold talks with the Uzbek president, prime minister, deputy prime minister, foreign minister and head of the Institute for Foreign Relations, according to <i>IRNA</i> news agency.
The current visit is the first by a high-ranking Iranian delegation to Uzbekistan since the country's independence. The two sides are to sign several memoranda of understanding on the subjects of preferential tariffs, mutually agreed standards, transportation, library and petrochemicals.
