Iran’s Participation in Iraq Talks Unsure

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that his country has not yet decided whether it is going to take part in the upcoming meeting of Iraq’s neighboring states. Mottaki made the remarks in a meeting with the Japanese deputy foreign minister here in Tehran on Thursday, where the two sides discussed bilateral ties and exchanged views about regional and international issues, a statement released by the Foreign Ministry’s Information and Press Bureau said.

During the meeting, the Iranian top diplomat viewed the trend of the two countries’ economic exchanges as natural, and informed the Japanese official that Tehran has defined a new management system for its economic ties with other countries.

Concerning Iran’s nuclear issue, he voiced pleasure with the failure of the West in dividing the Islamic republic officials through passing UN Security Council resolutions.

Elsewhere, Mottaki pointed to regional developments, and termed Afghanistan’s conditions as fragile due to the United States’ mistreatment and mismanagement of the affairs.

He also stressed the need for Iran and Japan to exchange views about the issue of Afghanistan.

Concerning Iraq, Mottaki said that his country has not yet decided whether it is going to take part in the upcoming meeting of Iraq’s neighboring countries, and said, “According to the previous approvals, the meetings of Iraq’s neighbors were supposed to be arranged in the form of a summit of the foreign ministers of Iraq’s neighboring states to reinvigorate Nouri Al-Maliki’s administration, strengthen Iraq and help establish stability in that country, and this issue is now under discussion.”

For his part, the Japanese official submitted a message from the Japanese foreign minister to Mottaki, and further briefed the Iranian minister about his meetings with the different Iranian officials.

Saying that Tokyo is seeking to expand ties with Iran as a friendly country, he described Iran as a country influencing stability and peace in the region, specially in connection with Afghanistan and Iraq, and praised Iran’s positive role in the developments of Afghanistan and Iraq.

The Japanese deputy foreign minister expressed the hope that the international community would appreciate Iran’s positive role in connection with the developments of Iraq and Afghanistan.

To conclude his remarks, he pointed to the inclination of the Japanese companies for conducting business activity in Iran, and hoped that the international community would admit to Iran’s right of access to peaceful nuclear energy.

Check Also

Palestinians say Fatah, Hamas close to post-war Gaza administration plan

Palestinian officials said Tuesday that Fatah and the militant group Hamas were close to an …