IRNA � For a long time, Iran and Algeria have maintained very good relations and the two nations remain to have similar views on many regional and international political issues.

Many regard the visit to the African nation by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, taking place under present regional and global conditions, as being particularly important to the bilateral ties between Tehran and Algiers.

Soon after Algeria declared its independence from France in 1961, Iran recognized the country as an independent nation and Tehran opened the Iranian embassy in autumn of 1964, in Algiers, the capital of the African nation.

Algeria led the initiative to address the border dispute between Iran and Iraq in 1975 and hosted a meeting attended by the Iranian and Iraqi officials that led to the signing of a deal known as the Algiers Agreement.

After the victory of 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, bilateral ties between the two nations strengthened further and Tehran and Algiers began to adopt similar stances on an array of international issues, particularly the problems faced by the World of Islam like the one in Palestine.

During the US embassy takeover in Tehran, Algeria acted as a mediator and attempts by the country resulted in Algiers Accords, which became another cause for better ties between Iran and Algeria.

After the United States and Iran cut ties, Algeria represented the interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the United States.

But there were some ups and downs as well in the relations between the two countries. Yet, in the wake of the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000, Tehran and Algiers resumed diplomatic relations and since then high-ranking officials from both countries have met in various occasion.

Iran and Algeria now maintain common approaches to regional and international issues, including the situation in Yemen, Syria, and Palestine.

Algeria opposed the Arab League members on giving the Syrian seat in the League to the Syrian opposition, and Algiers resisted taking any kind of military action in Syria, and as for Hezbollah and Hamas, Algeria objected putting their names on the terrorist group list in the Arab League.

Algeria also embraced the nuclear deal between Iran and major world powers, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and said that the deal was an important step toward making peace in the region and world.

Written by: Shahpour Hosseini, IRNA correspondent in Algiers
Translated by: Hossein Abolghassemi