Iran FM to Attend ASEAN Summit in Singapore

In a statement on Saturday, Qassemi said FM Zarif will visit Singapore in the coming days to sign the ASEAN Amity and Cooperation Treaty.

“Consensus among South-east Asian countries on accepting Iran as a member of the ASEAN’s Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC) indicates the importance of relations and interaction with Iran as an important and influential power in regional and international equations by all members of this Association,” noted Qassemi.

The ministerial summit of the ASEAN member states and its partners is due to be held from July 30 to August 4 in Singapore.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is also expected to attend the summit on August 3, fuelling speculations that there might be a bilateral meeting between top diplomats of Iran and the US after the recent escalation of war of words between Tehran and Washington.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a regional intergovernmental organization comprising ten Southeast Asian countries that promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration amongst its members. It also regularly engages other states in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

The Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia is a peace treaty among Southeast Asian countries established by the founding members of the ASEAN.

The treaty has been endorsed by the General Assembly stating that, “The purposes and principles of the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia and its provisions for the pacific settlement of regional disputes and for regional co-operation to achieve peace, amity and friendship among the peoples of Southeast Asia [are] in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.”