Sherali Kabir, Tajikistan’s industry and new technologies minister, and his Iranian counterpart Seyed Mohammad Atabak agreed that industrial cooperation between their two countries had entered “a qualitatively new stage,” the Tajik ministry said after they met on the sidelines of a gathering of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a regional forum that includes Russia and China.

At the meeting on June 5 in Kyrgyzstan, the two men talked about

“the establishment of textile clusters based on Tajik cotton raw materials and Iranian technologies; joint projects in metallurgy and mineral processing; the production of agricultural machinery; pharmaceuticals and biotechnology; construction materials; as well as the chemical industry and coal processing,”

according to the ministry.

They also reviewed a plan to open a joint industrial park in Tajikistan and the application of digital technologies and artificial intelligence in industrial management. Earlier this year, the two countries said they planned to increase bilateral trade to $1 billion, which would roughly double the current annual amount. Tajik officials said trade had increased in the first quarter of this year, and the government sent a convoy of more than 100 trucks carrying what it said was humanitarian aid to Iran in March.

On Monday, Iran and Israel appeared to be de-escalating after carrying out airstrikes on each other as a regional ceasefire came under strain. However, Tajikistan has not publicly taken a side in the war and instead called for a diplomatic solution. It is also working to deepen trade and other ties with the United States, which is seeking access to critical minerals and energy resources in Central Asia. The U.S. joined Israel in launching airstrikes on targets across Iran in February.

In a separate meeting in Bishkek on June 5, the internal affairs ministers of Tajikistan and Iran discussed ways to counter transnational organized crime and build cooperation between their law enforcement agencies. The two countries, which don’t share a border, have long been concerned about instability and militant threats from Afghanistan, which shares a long border with both countries.

According to state-run Iranian media, Interior Minister Ramazon Rahimzoda of Tajikistan also praised Iran during the encounter with counterpart Eskandar Momeni, saying it had shown resilience against “superpowers” in what the minister described as a testament to its technological skills and leadership.

In another meeting last week, Shina Ansari, Iranian vice president and head of the environment department, and Bahadur Shiralizadeh, Tajikistan’s environment minister, talked on the sidelines of a Global Environment Facility forum in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. They discussed endangered species protection and pollutant monitoring, and Shiralizadeh said Tajikistan would welcome Iranian specialists on biodiversity, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Iranian experts are involved in major hydropower projects in Tajikistan, which sees the technology as a way to alleviate energy shortages and reduce pollution from the use of fossil fuels.