DUSHANBE: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in the Central Asian republic of Tajikistan today for talks with his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rakhmon to be followed by a visit to Turkmenistan.

It is Ahmadinejad’s first international trip after a bloody crackdown on opposition supporters in Tehran on December 27 when at least eight people died and hundreds were injured.

“The central theme will be the economy, as well as questions of security,” Tajik foreign ministry spokesman Davlat Nazriyev said. The leaders were due to discuss Iran’s investment of around $200 million in the construction of a hydroelectric power station in Tajikistan expected to open at the end of the year, the spokesman said.