Polish Diplomat Calls Tehran Talks “Constructive”

Poland’s Deputy Foreign Minister Maciej Lang described as “constructive” his talks with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi over the jointly organized conference with the United States on peace and security in the Middle East.  
Lang met his Iranian counterpart in Tehran on Monday to solve a dispute over a conference his country is to host.
“We spoke about a wide range of issues, including misunderstandings about the Warsaw conference, and I presented our viewpoint on this issue. We had a long discussion and I hope that I did it in a clear way,” Lang told AFP in an interview.
“For Poland, this conference is not against any country,” he said.
The Feb. 13-14 summit was first announced on Jan. 11 by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who said that it “includes an important element of making sure that Iran is not a destabilizing influence” in the region.  

Unacceptable Reasons 

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the reasons provided by the Polish government for co-organizing the summit were unacceptable and that the Poles “must be mindful of the consequences”.
The Islamic Republic would not allow any country in or outside the region “to build coalitions against its interests”, the statement said.
Lang expressed hope that the conference would have a positive impact on relations with Iran.

“We intend to organize an event to discuss problems. Basically, the outcome of this conference is to find a process serving the region's stability,” he said.
“We believe the outcome will be positive. Why should we suppose that relations with Iran would suffer?”
Iran had reacted angrily to the conference when news of it first broke.
Poland’s charge d’affaires was summoned by the Iranian Foreign Ministry to “protest the anti-Iran, so-called peace and security conference” on Jan. 13.
Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif poured scorn on the Warsaw summit and pointed out that the country welcomed more than 100,000 Polish refugees during World War II.
“Polish Gov’t can’t wash the shame: while Iran saved Poles in WWII, it now hosts a desperate anti-Iran circus,” Zarif tweeted on Jan. 11.