Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

maintain diplomatic relations.

Nuclear Program

In March 2010, during the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

(EU) Foreign Ministers’ pastoral retreat, Finnish Foreign Minister

Alexander Stubb Cai-Göran Alexander Stubb (born 1 April 1968) is a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2014 to 2015. He rose to politics as a researcher specialized in the affairs of the European Union and was elected to the European ...

said that there was consensus enough in the EU for imposing unilateral sanctions on Iran for its nuclear activity, as the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

(UN) resolution will likely not be ready until June 2010, with the risk that it will not even be passed at that time. He added that “failing N sanctions I think there is an emerging consensus inside the European Union that we will take some unilateral measures from the EU side… What those exact measure are, have not been discussed in detail.”

Economic relations

In May 2008, Finnish ambassador to Iran Heikki Puurunen met with Iranian customs president Hashem Rahbari to discuss the possibility of the two countries signing an agreement

memorandum A memorandum ( : memoranda; abbr: memo; from the Latin ''memorandum'', "(that) which is to be remembered") is a written message that is typically used in a professional setting. Commonly abbreviated "memo," these messages are usually brief and ...

that would boost their trade relations. Rahbari stated, “Iran has signed several customs trade agreements with foreign countries. If Finland is also interested in inking such an agreement, we will initiate it during the visit of the Finnish customs administration to Tehran.”

Diplomatic/Military Relationship

In May 2008, Finnish ambassador to Iran Heikki Puurunen and Iranian customs president Hashem Rahbari met to discuss the possibility of the two countries signing an agreement memorandum that would boost their trade relations. During this meeting Puurrunen stated, “Relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Europe have fallen in the past few years due to political reasons, but Finland welcomes stronger ties and higher trade volume with Iran.” In April 2008 Iranian and Finnish chiefs of geology organization signed a memorandum of understanding for increased scientific and research cooperation.“The two sides'

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

organizations will cooperate in various fields including data analysis, exploration, petrology and training.”

Cultural relations

Around 10,000 Iranians live in Finland.

Resident diplomatic missions

* Finland has an embassy in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

. * Iran has an embassy in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

References

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