President Rouhani Urges Closer Iran-Russia-Turkey Ties
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stressed that enhanced interaction between Tehran, Moscow and Ankara on regional issues can help improve peace and security in the region.
“Big steps have been taken to deepen and develop the ties between Turkey and Iran over the past four years,” Rouhani said in a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyib Erdogan late on Wednesday.
However, he added, a major leap should be made in the relations to help increase the two countries’ annual trade volume to $30 billion.
The Iranian president also said the two neighboring countries need to boost their cooperation in the banking sector to encourage more interaction between major Iranian and Turkish banks.
Rouhani further underlined the need for an increase in interaction between Iran, Turkey and Russia on regional developments, including the reinforcement of the Astana talks between Syria’s warring sides, with the aim of contributing to peace and security in the region.
The Turkish president, for his part, congratulated Rouhani over his recent re-election and expressed Ankara’s resolve to boost ties with Tehran in all fields, regional issues in particular.
Noting that Ankara sees no obstacle to the enhancement of ties with Iran, Erdogan expressed Turkey’s determination to increase trade with Iran to $30 billion annually.
Iran and Turkey have ramped up efforts in recent months to boost bilateral trade since the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a lasting nuclear deal between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
The deal took effect in January 2016, terminating all nuclear-related sanctions on Iran.
