Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs, made the remarks during a speech on the topic of the future order of the Middle East, addressing a meeting on challenges and opportunities ahead of G7 Summit at Japan’s Center for International Public Policy Studies (CIPPS) in Tokyo.
He first expressed his condolences over the EgyptAir flight MS804 crash with 66 on board, noting the possibility of a terrorist attack as the cause of the crash, and added “today, a few would be surprised at hearing about such terrorist incidents in the Middle East. Unfortunately, we are faced with an increasing growth of terrorism in the region.”
Araghchi highlighted Iran’s significant role in the fight against terrorism in western Asian, adding “although this kind of terrorism is mostly active in Iraq and Syria, it is still a major regional threat because it strives to alter the order in the whole Middle East.”
The Iranian diplomat then touched upon the nuclear deal and its positive consequences, adding “sanctions against Iran have been lifted, but European countries as well as Japan need to encourage their private sectors to make better use of the existing opportunities for economic cooperation with Iran.”
To a question about Iran-Saudi Arabia’s severed diplomatic ties, he said “I believe that Saudi Arabia has made a miscalculation here.”
He went on to add, “we do not believe in a competition between Iran and Saudi Arabia; rather, both countries are among the major actors in the Middle East.”
“Extremism and terrorism are the common threats facing our region which require communication and collaborative approach among all regional actors to defeat them,” he said.
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