ASEAN Unveils Plans to Broaden Ties with Iran

Kao Kim Hourn met with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The ASEAN secretary general highlighted Iran’s role and position in the region, and gave a report on the association’s plans to expand interaction with Iran.

For his part, the Iranian president said the regional organizations play a significant role in the economic development of countries.

Pointing to Iran’s capacities and priorities for closer ties with the ASEAN and its member states, Raisi stressed the need to pursue the purposes in this regard.

ASEAN is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia. The union has an estimated total population of about 668 million, containing approximately 8.5% of the world population.

In an op-ed published in Indonesia’s ‘The Jakarta Post’ English-language newspaper on May 22, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said Tehran commends the performance of ASEAN and emphasizes its willingness to develop relations with other member states of the regional bloc within the framework of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation signed between the two sides in 2017.

“We consider Indonesia’s chairmanship in ASEAN an optimal opportunity for developing relations with the other member states of this progressive grouping. We also welcome the possibility of regional connections between ASEAN and the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in West Asia,” he added.