Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian held a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart, Fuad Hussein, at the Foreign Ministry compound in Tehran on Thursday afternoon.
During the press conference, the top Iranian diplomat said that "We are determined that the Shalamcheh railway to Basra will become operational as soon as possible and that the [Iranain] Minister of Roads will leave for Iraq next week in that regard."
Amir-Abdollahian said that in their meeting the two diplomats emphasized the cooperation with the Iran-Iraq Judicial Committee to speed up work on the prosecution of the perpetrators behind the martyrdom of anti-terror commander Martyr Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi Abu Mahdi Muhandis.
"I heard a piece of news from the Iraqi counterpart that confirms the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq," he added.
The Iranian foreign minister also said that they had consulted on the general cancellation of visas for citizens of both sides.
Later, he pointed to the Vienna talks the latest round of which ended last weekend and said in the recent round of Vienna talks, we were able to reach a document and unified agenda after two rounds of talks. This was an important development."
Amir-Abdollahian said that Iran did not find the stances of some European countries, particularly that of France, as constructive.
"The three European countries did not show any initiative in practice," he pointed out while saying, "We found the role of Mora and Borrell positive."
"The American side sends some unwritten messages into the meeting and receives the necessary answers," the top Iranian diplomat said, adding "We follow the negotiations in Vienna with goodwill and seriousness."
He also pointed out that Iran will not for sure give 10 points to receive one single point, calling on the Western side to remove the sanctions contrary to the JCPOA if they are concerned about the growing Iran nuclear activities.
I hope the fifth round of Iran-Saudi Arabia talks to be held soon: Iraqi FM
The Iraqi foreign minister, for his part, said that "In today's meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister, we emphasized the expansion of relations, including in the economic field. This was a good opportunity for us to talk about regional issues, especially the security situation in Iraq and the region."
Hussein added, "We talked about Iraq-US relations, and the strategic dialogue between the Iraqi government and the American side, and the agreement between the two sides to withdraw US troops from Iraq."
"It is important for us to discuss Iran's relations with Iraq's neighbors. Iraq played an important role in supporting the talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and we hope that the fifth round of talks will take place.
KI/FNA telegram
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