Mohammad Javad Zarif made the remark among reporters, upon his arrival at the airport of the Iranian city of Ramsar for a trilateral meeting with Turkish and Azerbaijani foreign ministers – Elmar Mammadyarov and Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.
Zarif, who held a telephone conversation on Tuesday with Armenian counterpart on the necessity of an immediate end to the hostilities between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, told reporters that arrangements for holding the fourth Iran-Azerbaijan-Turkey trilateral meeting were made before the eruption of clashes between Iran’s two northern neighbors, adding “we are urging all sides in the conflict to immediately cease hostilities, and believe that all capacities should be employed in order to achieve this end.”
He went on to add, “today, on the sidelines of the meeting, I will hold talks with Mr. Mammadyarov about the developments in the region. Our aim is to put an end to the hostilities. Regional countries, especially our neighbors, should exercise tact and wisdom in order to maintain peace and security in the region.”
On Iran-Azerbaijan-Turkey trilateral meeting, Zarif said the meeting aims at encouraging further cooperation between the three Muslim neighbors. Previous meetings between the three countries’ foreign ministers were held in Iran’s Urmia, Turkey’s Van and Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
The three countries can expand cooperation on tourism, transit and customs, the Iranian top diplomat said.
“Our region is faced with the threat of terrorism and extremism,” he said. “Coordinating efforts for fighting terrorism is another objective of the meeting.”
The fourth Iran-Azerbaijan-Turkey trilateral meeting will be held in Ramsar this afternoon, during which the foreign ministers of the three countries will discuss regional cooperation, fight against international terrorism, cargo transportation, as well as the development of cooperation in political area.
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