Iran's foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi and Armenia's Presidential Office Head and Chairman of Iran-Armenia Economic Commission Artashes Tumanian inked an agreement on developmental affairs on Wednesday. According to the Press and Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two sides in a meeting called for the expansion of the bilateral cooperation and the settlement of the Karabakh crisis. Tumanian thanked Iran, which he said has been making strenuous efforts to preserve the peace and stability in the region and to contribute to the development of Armenia. Iran's efforts to get involved in the development projects in Armenia would strengthen the all-out ties between the two states, contribute to defuse the tension due to the Karabakh crisis, he noted. Kharrazi commented on the many bonds between the two states and stressed singling out the mechanisms for contributing to the implementation of the economic projects and trade transactions between Iran and Armenia. At the end of the meeting, Kharrazi inked a $2.5 million economic agreement with the Armenian officials. Tumanian is in Tehran at the head of a 17-man economic delegation to attend the Fourth Iran-Armenia Economic Commission session, reported IRNA. The delegation comprises Armenian ministers of transport, post and telecommunications, education and science and energy and the country's deputy ministers for foreign affairs, industry and trade and energy along with a number of other officials from the republic. The project to transfer gas from Iran to Armenia, education and research, organization of short-term training courses, credit and financial-related issues, preferential tariffs, transfer of power, technical and electrical know-how, cooperation in the fields of transportation, telecommunications, banking and trade figured prominently in talks between Iranian and Armenian officials. Export Promotion Center of Iran and the Armenian Development Agency here on Wednesday inked a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of trade, energy and education. (Tehran Times)