Zarif Says Iran Shares with Turkey & Azerbaijan Stance on Middle East
Local Editor
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan have similar stances on developments in the Middle East and are determined to strengthen joint cooperation.
Zarif made the remarks in a joint press conference in Istanbul, Turkey, on Tuesday with his Turkish and Azerbaijani counterparts Mevlut Cavusoglu and Elmar Mammadyarov, respectively, following their sixth trilateral meeting.
"Cooperation among Tehran, Ankara and Baku is very important for development of the three countries, development of the region, the improvement of living conditions and the promotion of regional peace and security which is unfortunately facing with multiple challenges," Zarif said.
Zarif expressed hope that regional issues, particularly problems of the Syrian, Palestinian and Yemeni peoples, would be solved peacefully.
He further said: "We have always emphasized that regional issues should be settled based on [the principles of] international law and through peaceful methods."
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian foreign minister said the three sides also agreed to hold one meeting among their private sectors, adding it would be a "very important step" to boost regional cooperation.
The Turkish foreign minister, for his part, said Tehran, Ankara and Baku oppose unilateral measures on regional issues and believed that common and multilateral decisions must be made in this regard.
The three countries agreed that regional issues should be solved peacefully and through dialogue, he added.
Cavusoglu called for the continuation of joint cooperation to promote stability, peace and security in the region and said trilateral economic ties would also serve the interests of all regional states.
He further said Turkey has continued its cooperation with Iran after the United States withdrawal from a 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement signed between the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 group of countries.
Turkey is holding consultations with European countries on the continuation of cooperation with Iran, Covusoglu added.
In the same respect, the Azerbaijani foreign minister said his country called for the expansion of cooperation with Iran and Turkey in trade and transportation sectors.
The last meeting among the Iranian, Turkish and Azerbaijani foreign ministers was held in the Azeri capital of Baku in December 2017, and the one before that in the northern Iranian city of Ramsar in April 2016.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
