"We underline the necessity for consultations between Iran and the EU in economic and political fields and human rights dialogue and are waiting to hold talks with each other on these cases," Rinkevics said in a press conference in Tehran on Wednesday after meeting his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif.
He expressed pleasure in the negotiations between Tehran and the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany) on Iran's nuclear program, and said, "We are happy that the negotiations are progressing well over the nuclear issue. We hope that positive results will be obtained so that the relations in the political and economic aspects will be improved."
Rinkevics also emphasized Iran's important role in the region, specially in Afghanistan, where Latvian forces are present in the format of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
Rinkevics arrived in Tehran today on an official visit to discuss ways to promote Tehran-Riga relations with senior Iranian officials.
He is accompanied by several Latvian businessmen and economists during his stay in Tehran.
In addition to meeting his Iranian counterpart, the Latvian foreign minister is slated to meet President Hassan Rouhani and Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani during his visit.
Rinkevich is the first senior Latvian official to visit Iran since independence of that country in early 1990s.
Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania are the Baltic group of states. Latvia is also a member of the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It joined euro countries since the beginning of 2014.
