President Hassan Rouhani left Tehran for Ankara on Wednesday at the head of a high-powered politico-economic delegation to take part in the fifth meeting of Iran-Turkey High Council of Strategic Cooperation.
Rouhani will also hold separate talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his accompanying officials will meet their Turkish counterparts.
The two-day visit will also feature the signing of several political, economic and cultural agreements to give a boost to mutual relations.
The president told reporters before his departure that Turkey, as a “friendly” and “influential” country in the region, has a special place in Iran’s foreign relations, IRNA reported.
“Turkey’s approach, especially Erdogan’s stance, toward the US sanctions against Iran has been good and decisive in recent months,” he said, referring to the hostile measures adopted by the US after it abandoned the 2015 Iran nuclear deal in May.
Erdogan has said Turkey will not abide by the US sanctions on Iran, describing Washington’s move as aimed at “unbalancing the world”.
Lawmakers’ Support
Iranian parliamentarians have welcomed Rouhani’s visit to the neighboring country, highlighting the key role of Turkey in Iran’s international policies.
Ahead of Rouhani’s trip, Ardeshir Nourian, a member of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said in an interview with ICANA that Turkey holds a central place in Iran’s foreign policy due to the country’s need for closer international economic relations, particularly with neighbors, as well as shared security concerns arising from the Syrian crisis.
“Turkey is one of the most important [states] among Iran’s 15 neighbors … and has great potential for collaboration in technical, economic and security areas,” Nourian said.
He stressed that the Syrian war and the resulting security crisis in the region in recent years has brought Tehran and Ankara closer together to spearhead peace efforts along with Russia.
A multi-sided civil war has been raging in Syria for over seven years whose effects have crossed the borders fostering instability across the region.
Russia, Iran and Turkey launched the Astana process in January 2017 in the Kazakh capital to act as guarantors of peace in the war-torn Arab country.
Nourian also pointed to economic considerations as a reason which makes it necessary to seek closer ties with Turkey given the US sanctions that have challenged Tehran’s international trade.
“Economic cooperation ... between Iran and Turkey, especially at this [critical] period, is another subject of mutual interest which has increased Turkey’s significance in Iran’s foreign policy,” he said.
He added that high-level negotiations between the authorities of the two sides are essential and effective in this condition.
Ali Najafi Khoshroudi, another member of the parliamentary panel, described the president’s trip as “a golden opportunity” to hold top-level strategic dialogue on regional issues.
“These negotiations will eliminate the need for interference by the countries from outside the Middle East in our region’s affairs,” he told ICANA.
Moreover, he emphasized that Iran’s present conditions call for talks to expand economic cooperation with more countries.
