Algeria, Iran Agree on Military Cooperation

Middle East Newsline:

Algeria and Iran have agreed to begin military cooperation. The agreement came during a three-day visit by Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani to Algiers. Shamkhani held talks with the Algerian leadership on military cooperation with the North African country.

This has been the first visit by an Iranian defense minister to Algeria since the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979. For more than a decade, Algeria has charged that Iran was supporting the Islamic insurgency in the North African country.

Over the last year, relations between Algiers and Teheran significantly improved and officials from both countries described Shamkhani's current visit as seminal. In 2000, the two countries restored diplomatic relations and discussed economic and energy cooperation.