Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan Tuesday evening on the sidelines of the Oslo Forum in Norway. During the meeting, Zarif noted the Saudi pressure on Qatar and the severed diplomatic ties between the two countries, while Kofi Annan stressed that all regional countries would be the loser if tension continued to escalate in the Middle East.
Later on Tuesday, Zarif held talks with his Kenyan counterpart Amina Mohamed, calling for political talks between Qatar and Saudi Arabia for settlement of their current issues.
Zarif also deemed Iranian-Kenyan political ties constructive, voicing Tehran’s readiness to provide Nairobi with humanitarian aid.
The Kenyan senior diplomat, for her part, expressed concern over the political crisis between Saudi Arabia and Qatar given the fact that thousands of Kenyan nationals reside in those countries; “dialogs need to change between Riyadh and Doha for the current differences to be resolved,” she added.
In another meeting on Tuesday, Zarif conferred with Bosnian foreign minister Igor Crnadak on regional and bilateral relations; “it is highly important to Iran to see stability and unity in Bosnia. Tehran is willing to have closer cooperation with the country in order to see stability and security established there,” Zarif said.
Igor Crnadak, for his part, voiced concern over the current conflict between Persian Gulf states due to Bosnia’s embassy in Qatar and a number of Bosnian nationals living in Doha.
Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif left Oslo for Tehran late Tuesday after a two-day visit for taking part in Oslo Forum and holding talks with officials of a number of countries on the sidelines of the forum.
MS