Speaking to reports on the sidelines of the seventh Ministerial Conference of the Heart of Asia underway in Baku, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif touched upon the goals and importance of the ongoing Conference saying “Heart of Asia - Istanbul Process on Afghanistan is an effort to boost cooperation among regional countries for development of economy and security in Afghanistan.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran has been involved since the beginning of the active process,” he continued.
FM Zarif went on to add that the significant issues were sovereignty of the Afghan government and efforts to bring peace, stability, progress and security to Afghanistan.
He emphasized the need for fight against terrorism under leadership of the Afghan government, the need to pay attention to the ISIS phenomenon in Afghanistan that is expanding these days, attention to ISIL’s efforts to create division among various sections of Afghan people and the need for international cooperation in combating drugs.
The official expressed hope that with good cooperation of the international community, the Afghan government and nation will pass through the critical stage.
In response to another question on his Thursday talks with Mogherini, Iran’s Zarif commented “as I stressed yesterday, Europeans and Ms. Mogherini have so far adopted good and solid positions on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).”
“In recent months, we have witnessed large-scale measures by Europeans in the field of banking and finance cooperation, and last week we saw a delegation from the European Union in Iran for nuclear and agricultural cooperation,” the Iranian foreign minister underscored.
Expressing hope that the cooperation will continue between Iran and Europe, he said the meeting with Mogherini had paid due special attention to the issue of Syria; “I informed her about outcomes of the recent Sochi meeting held in Moscow and also discussed peace talks in the region while exchanging views on dangerous policies of the Saudi government in Yemen and Lebanon.”
Mohammad Javad Zarif later remarked that negotiations in Sochi are never in conflict or confrontation with other international efforts; “we believe that Sochi meeting is a good way to reach a solution accepted by everyone.”
In response to another question on Tehran-Baku ties, the official said Iran holds good relations with Azerbaijan, and today I had a good talk with the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, sharing views on sea cooperation in the Caspian Sea, energy cooperation, trilateral cooperation with Russia and the tripartite cooperation with Turkey, as well as more extensive cooperation in the field of transit.
At the end of his remarks, he stressed that Azerbaijan is a good neighbor for the Islamic Republic of Iran and Tehran will continue relations with Baku seriously.
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