China, Russia not Iran's only options in foreign relations

Speaking to Iranian national TV on Tuesday evening, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that "Wherever there are interests for the people of Iran, we are there. When we talk about Looking to Asia approach, we mean the Indian subcontinent, China, Russia and many other countries in our region."

"While we maintain our bilateral and multilateral relations with these countries, we will never allow Russia or China to think that our only choice is them," he added.

"If we have interests in Germany, France and the United Kingdom today, we will cooperate with them in line with the interests of the nation. Regarding China and Russia, we act within the framework of our interests," the top Iranian diplomat went on to reassure the Iranian nation about the balanced foreign policy approach that President Ebrahim Raeisi's admiration has adopted,

He pointed to the recent joint statement which was issued after the sixth ministerial meeting of strategic dialogue between Russia and the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) in Moscow and said that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not compromise on its territorial integrity in its relations with any country.

"For that reason, despite the fact that we are at the apex of the good relations we have with Russia in the commercial sectors and various other fields, we summoned the Russian ambassador and we will not the issue go unanswered," he noted.

"Russia had neglected the issue of the three islands, which belong eternally and historically to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Now they have given us an explanation...
Or with respect to the use of the fake word instead of Persian Gulf in yesterday's statement, their ambassador presented us with a document that the exact word "Persian Gulf" was used in the Russian language document."

The TV interview came few hours after the top Iranian diplomat held a phone call with his Russian counterpart where Sergey lavrov stressed that, ""The Russian Federation has no doubts about the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran. and fully respects it.""

KI