Iran’s FM Due in Russia Next Week: Report
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is scheduled to pay an official visit to the Russian capital of Moscow next week, Russian media reported.
“The visit, genuinely, is expected next week,” Tass news agency quoted an Iranian embassy official as saying. “The exact date will be announced in the coming days.”
Zarif’s visit would come as part of his second tour of regional countries after Iran nuclear talks concluded in Vienna, Austria.
In this tour, which is due to start on Tuesday, the Iranian minister is scheduled to visit Lebanon, Syria, Pakistan, and India as well as Russia.
In his first regional tour in July, he visited Kuwait, Qatar, and Iraq, where he held talks with their highest-ranking officials.
Zarif’s tours of regional countries come in the wake of the conclusion of nuclear talks between Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
Iran and the six powers on July 14 finalized the text of a lasting nuclear deal that would terminate all anti-Iran sanctions after taking effect. The United Nations Security Council also unanimously passed a resolution afterwards, endorsing the comprehensive accord.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on July 18 that the first priority for Tehran following the conclusion of nuclear talks is strengthening ties with the neighboring countries.
“Our first priority after the (nuclear) deal is the enhancement of relations with neighbors, including the friend and brother state of Qatar,” Rouhani said in a telephone conversation with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.