Pezeshkian: Iran pursues peace, security in West Asia
President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that Iran’s practical approach is to secure peace and security in the region, calling for more “serious interaction” between Iran and Oman in this regard.
Pezeshkian said in a meeting with Oman’s visiting Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi that his government’s foreign policy is based on “expanding relations and strengthening cooperation with all Islamic countries, neighbors and friends,” stressing that Oman has a privileged position among them.
The president said it is not acceptable that regional countries and Muslim nations suffer differences of which a “criminal” regime like Israel can take advantage to harm the regional states.
Referring to “long-standing and friendly” relations between Tehran and Muscat, Pezeshkian said the “continuation and further expansion of these constructive relations is of great importance to the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
He also pointed to an agreement reached between the two countries to hold the next meeting of the Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation in the near future, saying that good measures are underway to accelerate the implementation of previous agreements.
Oman’s foreign minister said that expansion of relations with Iran based on mutual respect, and trust has been an “unchangeable principle” for Oman.
Badr al-Busaidi who arrived in Tehran on Monday, before his talks with Pezeshkian, held a separate meeting with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi.
During a joint press conference, Araghchi said Iran and Oman as well as the majority of countries in the region have commonalities on the regional issues and all call for the promotion of independence and stability in Syria.
Syria situation
“We have consensus on maintenance of territorial integrity and unity, respect for all ethnics and religions and the formation of an inclusive government in Syria,” the Iranian minister said.
Iran’s positions have much in common with Oman and most of the countries in the region, and we all want independence and stability in Syria.
Syria has been witnessing chaotic scenes after militants, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), took control of Damascus on December 8 and declared an end to former president Bashar al-Assad’s rule in a surprise offensive that was launched from their stronghold in northwestern parts of the country, reaching the capital in less than two weeks.
Araghchi further pointed to close stance and constant consultations between Iran and Oman on regional matters and said the two countries stress the need to establish an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and send aid to the war-ravaged Strip.
At least 45,514 Palestinians, mostly children and women, have been killed and 108,189 people wounded in the war that Israel began on October 7, 2023 following a retaliatory operation by the Palestinian territory’s resistance movements.
Pointing to mutual talks about the developments in Yemen, the Iranian foreign minister said Tehran and Muscat condemn the joint attacks by the United States and the Israeli regime on the Yemeni territory.
Bilateral ties
Araghchi also hailed “growing” relations between Tehran and Muscat in various fields and said a meeting of the two countries’ joint economic committee would convene in Oman next month.
He added that the volume of trade between the two countries has been tripled in the last Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19) in comparison with three years ago.
The value of the two countries’ trade in the last Iranian year reached 2.5 billion dollars, Araghchi noted.