Iran Opposed to Presence of Foreigners in Region: FM
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The foreign minister of Iran rejected the presence of foreign forces in the region, which he said would further complicate the regional situation.
In a telephone conversation on Sunday, Hossein Amirabdollahian and his Azeri counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov discussed the bilateral issues as well as issues of mutual interest in the regional and international arenas.
Highlighting the good relations between Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan, Amirabdollahian hailed the recent meeting between the presidents of the two countries in the Kazakh capital, Astana.
He also emphasized on the territorial integrity of the countries in the region, including the Republic of Azerbaijan, adding, “We believe that the presence of foreigners in the region complicates the situation and we are against their presence.”
“The Islamic Republic of Iran pursues the right solution to the disputes in the Caucasus in the 3+3 meetings (between the Republic of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia — Russia, Turkey, Iran) and regional mechanisms and will always continue its efforts to solve the problems between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia,” he stated, the Foreign Ministry’s website reported.
The top Iranian diplomatic pointed out, “We consider the security of the region as an interconnected issue, and we consider the security of the Republic of Azerbaijan as the security of the region and Iran.”
“We have declared our opposition to any deployment of foreign forces in the region. We consider it against regional peace, stability and cooperation,” Amirabdollahian noted.
For his part, Bayramov described direct and continuous communications between the foreign ministers of the two countries as an indication of the depth of relations between Tehran and Baku and said, “We value and respect these relations.”
He further thanked his Iranian counterpart for the telephone call and for explaining the results of his trip to Armenia and praised Tehran for its efforts to help restore regional peace and stability.
Bayramov also expressed his opposition to the deployment of foreign forces to the region and emphasized the continuation of regional cooperation, including in the format of the 3+3 meetings, to help maintain stability and security in the region.
The Azeri minister also welcomed the upcoming visit by the Iranian parliament speaker to Baku and described it as an important step in helping the development of bilateral relations.
