Political Bilateral Relations between
the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Slovenia
Political Relation:
In 1991 after Slovenia declared its independence from the former Yugoslavia, on March 11th, 1992 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran issued an announcement on accepting the independence of the Republic of Slovenia and the official relations between the two countries started. One year afterward, the Slovenian FM visited Iran and during his visit, the Protocol on Political Cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the two countries, was signed.
In 1993 the Republic of Slovenia opened its Embassy in Tehran, though it had a few Embassies, especially in Asia and Oceana. Meanwhile the Islamic Republic of Iran had introduced its Ambassador in Vienna as Accredited to Ljubljana a year earlier in 1992.
In 2012 due to the financial crisis, Slovenia closed a number of its Embassies including their Embassy in Tehran and introduced their Embassy in Ankara as Accredited to Tehran.
In 2010 the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran was opened in Ljubljana and the late Mohammad Rahim Aghaeipour (who was among the Martyrs of the Mina stampede tragedy) was the first Iranian Ambassador seated at Ljubljana.
The nuclear deal and the implementation of the JCPOA which brought high political officials from different countries and among them European countries to Iran, strengthened the determination of Slovenian political officials in improving their relations with Iran.
The visit of the President of the Republic of Slovenia to the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Re-opening of the Slovenian Embassy in Tehran:
H.E. Borut Pahor, President of the Republic of Slovenia heading a 80 person high level political and economic delegation along with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Economic Development and Technology, visited Iran from November 21-24 November 2016.
During this visit beside the high level meetings, in a ceremony with the attendance of H.E. Dr. Javad Zarif the Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister, the Slovenian President re-opened the Embassy in Tehran.
H.E. Karl Erjavec, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia had a separate meeting with his Iranian counterpart on November 23rd, 2016. At the meeting improvement of bilateral relations and political consultations were discussed.
H.E. Ms. Kristina Radej was appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to the Islamic Republic of Iran on May 4, 2017. Copies of credentials were handed over to Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs by May 22, 2017, and letters of credence to the H.E. Dr. Hassan Rouhani, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran on June 20, 2017