TEHRAN : Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Iran, Prof. Fazeeha Azmi visited the Permanent Secretariat of the Asian Mayors Forum (AMF) based in Tehran and met with the Secretary General of the AMF, Dr. Hamdreza Gholamzadeh on 29 July 2026. Welcoming the Sri Lankan envoy to the AMF Secretariat, Dr. Hamdreza Gholamzadeh extended his congratulations to Ambassador (Prof.) Fazeeha Azmi on her new assignment and introduced about the mandate and governing structure of the organization, staff of the Secretariat, its activities and AMF’s development outlook.
While reaffirming the Sri Lanka’s participation in the AMF, the Ambassador of Sri Lanka appreciated the AMF’s important role to expand the relations between the mayors and city managers in Asia since 2008 for the sustainable integration of Asian cities and people towards a better life and human-friendly environment. She also emphasized the shared areas of collaboration and welcomed the expansion of relations between Sri Lankan cities and the Forum.
The AMF Secretary General (Dr.) Hamdreza Gholamzadeh expressed that the sister city arrangement between Tehran and Colombo would be a valuable opportunity to expand the inter-city cooperation. Further, he stated that his organization expects more future collaboration with the cities in Sri Lanka based on functions and requested the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Tehran to facilitate strong linkage between the AMF Secretariat and the Colombo Municipal Council for the success of upcoming activities.
In response, Ambassador (Prof.) Fazeeha Azmi welcomed the sister city concept between the cities of Sri Lanka such as Colombo, Kandy and Galle and the cities of Iran including Tehran. She also assured to make a strong linkage between the Colombo Municipal Council and the AMF for the Sri Lanka’s active participation in the organization, sharing of knowledge, experiences and best practices and strengthening the cooperation between Colombo and other cities in Asia.
During the meeting, both sides emphasized the importance of sharing knowledge on success stories, best practices and challenges related to city management. It was also underscored that considering the future trend of Asian urbanization, how experience and knowledge sharing would be mutually beneficial.
At the end, the AMF Secretary General expressed his fullest support to the Ambassador of
Sri Lanka and appreciation for the productive meeting. Deputy Secretary General, Najme Khatami and Director (International Organizations), Mahshid Taghikhani of the AMF were also in the Meeting.
