Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan Sign Joint Statement

Hassan Rouhani of Iran, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan held their second tripartite meeting in Tehran on Wednesday to discuss the latest regional developments and mutual cooperation.

Following the meeting, the three presidents issued a joint statement and urged all parties to the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), to honor their commitments under the accord.

The agreement is “working effectively”, they stressed.

The 159-page nuclear agreement between Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France, and Germany) was reached in July 2015 and came into force in January 2016.

The three countries also agreed to enhance their cooperation in the fields of oil and gas, according to the statement.

Rouhani, Putin and Aliyev also discussed ways to establish a railway line between their three countries aimed at transporting freight from Asia to Europe.

During a joint press conference held after the trilateral meeting, Putin noted that the situation in Syria and peace talks aimed at ending the war in the Arab country were progressing positively.

Putin also added that the crisis in Syria cannot be solved by only one country.

For his part, Rouhani said Tehran and Moscow needed to increase their cooperation on resolving the war in Syria and further stabilizing the region.

"Cooperation between Tehran and Moscow is a must to bring stability and peace to Syria... It is also necessary to fight against regional terrorism,” he said.

In August 2016, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Russian and Azerbaijani counterparts Putin and Aliyev held their first key tripartite summit in Azerbaijan’s capital where they discussed ways of enhancing cooperation in the areas of commerce, energy, communications, transport and transit. They also exchanged views on environmental issues and the fight against terrorism.