Iran After Sustainable Peace in Afghanistan: Zarif
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif voiced Tehran’s determination to help establish lasting peace in Afghanistan as he arrived in Tajikistan for a regional initiative known as the Heart of Asia platform.
Speaking to reporters in Dushanbe on Sunday evening, Zarif called for efforts to ensure lasting peace and a cease to hostilities in Afghanistan.
The top Iranian diplomat is going to attend a ministerial meeting of the Heart of Asia initiative and hold talks with senior Tajik authorities.
“I’m very pleased to have found an opportunity to travel to Tajikistan, which is a friendly and neighboring country where people speak the same language and have the same religion as Iranians, in order to attend the Heart of Asia conference, have a bilateral trip and also sit down for talks with officials from Tajikistan and other countries, so that we can work together on Afghanistan, which is also a neighboring country where people have the same religion and language as we do, so that we can help our brothers and sisters in Afghanistan establish lasting peace and end fighting in their country,” he said.
“Iran and Tajikistan enjoy age-old relations. I hope this trip will play a key role in boosting and expanding mutual cooperation on all fronts,” Zarif added, according to the Foreign Ministry’s website.
The 9th annual ministerial meeting of the Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process is taking place in Tajikistan.
The Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process is a regional initiative developed by Afghanistan and Turkey, which was launched in November 2011 in Istanbul.
The process aims to promote regional security, economic and political cooperation centered on Afghanistan through dialogue and confidence building measures.