Raisi: Countries Eager to Have Relations with Iran Despite Sanctions

By Staff, Agencies

"Despite the fact that the enemies thought they could isolate Iran with sanctions and threats, today we see the eagerness of the countries in the region to cooperate with our country," Iranian President Sayyed Ebrahim Raisi said on Saturday after arriving back from his trip to Uzbekistan during which he attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization [SCO] in Samarkand and held talks with Uzbek officials as well as the leader of the SCO participating countries.

Raisi said the trip to Uzbekistan was done "to strengthen the neighborhood policy, the Islamic Republic of Iran's economic multilateralism, and pay attention to the neighbors and countries in the region and Asian cooperation."

He also noted that his first action was holding a bilateral meeting with the president of the host country. “For more than 20 years, senior officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran had not visited Uzbekistan, and this was also the case with the other side. Fortunately, the meeting with the President of Uzbekistan was very fruitful."

"Bilateral meetings were also held with the leaders of the SCO member states who participated in the summit, and more than 10 meetings were held, in which bilateral issues and commercial and economic relations were discussed," Raisi went on to say.

The president further explained that "The third part was the speech at the SCO Summit, and in the meeting, the official announcement of the membership of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was made. This issue provides a great opportunity in the economic field for our country."

Raisi also noted that "Fortunately, today there is a lot of enthusiasm for our country's products in the market of neighboring countries and the Eurasian region, and this capacity should be used well. Despite the fact that the enemies thought they could isolate Iran with sanctions and threats, today we see the eagerness of the countries in the region to cooperate with our country."

"I hope that what was done during this trip will be the basis for future steps to develop and strengthen the neighborhood policy and economic activities in the region, so that we can take steps to develop relations in all fields between Iran and neighboring countries in the next meetings," Raisi concluded.