Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran – 10 March 2025 – On the final day of the official visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Director General of the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS), His Excellency Ambassador Berik Aryn, was received by the Minister of Agriculture Jihad of Iran, His Excellency Mr. Gholamreza Nouri Ghezelcheh. The meeting took place at the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad headquarters in Tehran and focused on enhancing regional cooperation to address food security challenges facing IOFS Member States.
During the discussions that had in attendance His Excellency Mr. Ontalap Onalbayev, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Tehran and Mr. Human Fathi, Director General of Bureau of International Affairs & Specialized Organizations (BIASO) at the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad, Minister Nouri Ghezelcheh expressed Iran's willingness to support IOFS through sharing its advanced agricultural research capabilities and technologies. The two officials explored potential areas of collaboration, including:
1. Technology Transfer: Sharing of Iranian agricultural innovations in areas such as water management, drought-resistant crops, and sustainable farming practices;
2. Research Collaboration: Joint research initiatives to develop climate-resilient agricultural solutions;
3. Capacity Building: Training programs for IOFS Member States on advanced agricultural techniques
4. Knowledge Exchange: Establishment of platforms for sharing best practices in agricultural development, including hosting a network of heads of different agrarian institutes of the Member States, which could serve to operationalize the establishment of the Association of Agriculture Academies (AAA).
Such proposed initiatives are in line with the meeting held on 08 March 2025 with Mr. Human Fathi in which the IOFS Director General had already highlighted Iran’s leadership in agricultural research and development. In fact, it was agreed that IOFS and BIASO will establish a Joint Technical Working Group to work out a detailed Joint Plan of Action as Iran’s contribution to address the food security challenges faced by IOFS Member States through science-based solutions and technological innovation.
It should be mentioned that the Director General seized the opportunity to request the host to block the dates of 01-02 July 2025 to be in Astana to actively contribute to the successful holding of the 7th IOFS General Assembly, as well as for him to officially visit the IOFS Headquarters in late May 2025 when he would be in Astana for a working visit. The Minister was happy to welcome both requests.
