By Suraidah Roslan and Ahmad Idzwan Arzmi
KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 (Bernama) -- Iran remains committed to strengthening its relations with Malaysia and is actively seeking to explore new cooperations across all sectors.
Iranian Ambassador to Malaysia Valiollah Mohammadi Nasrabadi said ties between Tehran and Kuala Lumpur have remained strong despite Iran having been under sanctions for 45 years.
“Our relation and cooperation (with Malaysia) are good and of course, among the best that we have. But in terms of economic cooperation, both countries are trying their best to expand the relationship,” he told Bernama in an interview here, Wednesday.
Valiollah said the country hopes to expand its cooperation with Malaysia in high value sectors such as medical tourism, in which Iran can offer its advanced technology, and also in the defence and technology industries.
He said Iran participated in the Defence Services Asia (DSA) and National Security Asia (NATSEC) exhibition held here last year, along with the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) last May.
He said both countries can deepen their trade ties in the agriculture sector.
“We have a lot of products that maybe Malaysia can import, such as fruit. At the same time, we import many products from Malaysia, including palm oil and cocoa.
“We are good friends so, we must work together and try to achieve good outcome,” he said.
Valiollah also hoped Iran and Malaysia can re-establish the direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Tehran to boost tourism and strengthen education ties between the two countries.
He added that before the COVID-19 pandemic, some 100,000 Iranians lived in Malaysia, 20,000 were university students.
Valiollah also commended Malaysia’s leadership as the 2025 ASEAN Chair and appreciated the country’s unwavering support for Iran during its conflict with Israel.
In 2024, Iran was Malaysia’s seventh-largest West Asian trading partner with total trade valued at RM2.6 billion (USD570 million), a 24.6 per cent increase from 2023.
Malaysia was Iran’s largest trading partner among ASEAN member states and its 19th largest globally in 2023.
-- BERNAMA
BERNAMA provides up-to-date authentic and comprehensive news and information which are disseminated via BERNAMA Wires; www.bernama.com; BERNAMA TV on Astro 502, unifi TV 631 and MYTV 121 channels and BERNAMA Radio on FM93.9 (Klang Valley), FM107.5 (Johor Bahru), FM107.9 (Kota Kinabalu) and FM100.9 (Kuching) frequencies.
Follow us on social media :
Facebook : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatv, @bernamaradio
Twitter : @bernama.com, @BernamaTV, @bernamaradio
Instagram : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatvofficial, @bernamaradioofficial
TikTok : @bernamaofficial
