Iran Set to Boost Value of Trade with Turkey to $30bn

Mahmoud Vaezi, the chief of staff of President Hassan Rouhani, noted Iran and Turkey share numerous commonalities on cultural and historical fronts.

“This common ground is the best asset for the governments and people of both countries to enjoy excellent relations,” he said.

He said Iran’s policy is to have close cooperation and relations with all neighbouring countries.

“Among our neighbours, Iran has close and strategic relations with Turkey. The two presidents have close and brotherly relations and they have met 12 times over the past six years,” he said.

He noted Iran and Turkey not only have bilateral cooperation, but work together at regional and international levels as well.

“We have close views on international developments. Both countries are opposed to the US and the West using sanctions as a tool. We are against unilateralism and try to get problems solved through diplomacy,” the top official noted.

He also touched upon the trend of the Astana talks on Syria and the role of those negotiations in the region.

“A successful model that we presented on the international stage is the trend of Astana [talks] between Iran, Russia and Turkey where the three countries were able to manage the Syria crisis,” he said.

“Given the situation in the region and the existence of terrorists, what is important to us is the security of Turkey and Iran and of borders, and this is among the topics of discussion between the two countries. We are happy to see that Turkey’s problem with Syria has been settled,” he said.

He also expressed congratulations on Turkey’s National Day.