Amir Abdollahian meets senior Syrian officials

IRAN(TEHRAN TIMES)- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian paid a visit to Damascus on Saturday to hold talks with senior Syrian authorities, including President Bashar Al-Assad.

His tour to Syria kicked off as he finished his visit to Lebanon.

Amir Abdollahian talks centered around bilateral relationship, joint interests as well as regional and global developments.

At the Damascus International Airport on Saturday, he was welcomed by his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad.

Ali Asghar Khaji, senior adviser for special political affairs to the Iranian foreign minister; Nasser Kanaani, the Foreign Ministry spokesman; and Mahdi Shoushtari, the special assistant to the foreign minister were accompanying Amir Abdollahian.

The most recent regional developments and bilateral relations were discussed by the two parties.

Meeting with Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah “important and essential”

While in Beirut, Amir Abdollahian met Lebanon’s prime minister, foreign minister, parliament speaker, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah.

In a tweet on Friday night, Amir Abdollahian asserted that he conducted “important and essential negotiations” with the Hezbollah chief.

“The resistance is undoubtedly in its best condition in order to ensure regional security maximally,” the top diplomat noted.

“Iran, Saudi Arabia to open consulates in Jedda, Mashhad”

Amir Abdollahian also said on Friday the reopening of the general consular offices of Iran and Saud Arabia in Jedda and Mashhad would hopefully be the first step towards the restoration of relations between the two countries.

So far Iraq had hosted five rounds of negotiations between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore diplomatic ties.

In a press conference with his Lebanese counterpart, Amir Abdollahian said that reopening of the consular offices will provide services to Iranian citizens who travel to Mecca and Medina for Hajj pilgrimage.

He also said that both countries concurred that talks to repair relations should continue.

Amir Abdollahian asserted that although the Saudi side is not yet prepared to reestablish regular relations with Iran, the Islamic Republic is both prepared and really eager to do so.

“We think if the other side would have a genuine will, normalization of ties will take place in the near future,” the Iranian foreign minister remarked.

When asked about Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the most recent uprising in Iran, he responded, “Parallel to the politics with the Saudis, security conversations, too, were held and the issues would be assessed by both parties.”

On his conversations with Nasrallah, he said, “In my meeting with Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, we spoke about a range of issues, including Palestine, and from what I understood from my talks with Hezbollah and the Islamic Jihad chiefs, I can say aloud that the Islamic resistance in Lebanon, and Palestine are now in their best condition.”

“The U.S. and Europe took advantage of the incident of the death of an Iranian girl to undermine the Islamic Republic of Iran, but they did not respond at all to the clear murder of Shireen Abu Akleh, the Palestinian reporter, by the Zionist regime,” Amir Abdollahian continued.

The foreign minister also spoke on nuclear discussions with the world powers to end the sanctions as well, saying, “We will not change our positions in negotiations to end the sanctions, … we believe dialogue is the best approach to reach a solution.”

“Our redline is the interest of the Iranian nation,” he said once more.

The Iranian foreign minister added, “Iran is prepared to supply fuel to Lebanon whenever the Lebanese government would express their willingness to receive it.”

Amir Abdollahian said that first paperwork has been completed and preparations have been made for selling gas to a European nation as well.

“Iran continues to support Lebanon in hard times”

Amir Abdollahian emphasized that Tehran would remain Beirut’s ally in difficult moments and that his country is prepared to work with Lebanon on economic, trade, and energy projects.

He made the comments while speaking with a number of political, cultural, media, academic, and social personalities on Friday night in Beirut.

He also stated that Iran would continue to assist the Afghan people and denounce the terrorist acts committed by Daesh outside that country’s Foreign Ministry.

The minister added, “Excluding women from social activities in Afghanistan is against the fundamentals of good Islam.”

“We have not recognized the legitimacy of the current ruling group in Afghanistan, but in some particular cases in order to decrease the problems with which that country is entangled we have established relations with them,” he added.

The senior Iranian diplomat emphasized that the formation of an all-inclusive government made up of all political parties in Afghanistan is the only option to find a solution to the issue.