Iran's newly elected President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday said establishing extensive interaction with neighboring countries constitutes one of his government's main foreign policy principles.
He made the remarks during a meeting with Nurdinjon Ismailov, speaker of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan.
"There are countless potentials for the development of relations between the two countries in different fields, especially economy," Raisi was quoted as saying by the Iranian presidency's official website.
Raisi held more than a dozen bilateral meetings between Tuesday and Wednesday, with envoys from other countries dispatched to Iran's capital Tehran to attend Raisi's inauguration ceremony on Thursday. Many of the envoys Raisi met with were from Iran's close neighbors in Central Asia, South Asia and the Middle East, including Tajikistan, Pakistan, Syria, Oman and Yemen.
Other officials were from countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bolivia, Ghana, Nicaragua and Niger. Raisi also met with senior officials of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA).
Facing a series of challenges, including tensions with the West, inconclusive talks on removing U.S. sanctions and reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and a crumbling economy, Raisi has set the enhancement of ties with neighboring, Asian, Latin American, and non-Western countries as a priority of his foreign policy agenda.
During his meeting with Mahmadtoir Zokirzoda, chairman of the Assembly of Representatives of Tajikistan, Raisi called for the development of ties between Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan as three Persian-speaking countries.
"The insecurity in Afghanistan today, which is rooted in foreign interference in the country, is not in anyone's interest. Iran and Tajikistan should have closer bilateral and international cooperation with each other to eliminate this common concern," Raisi noted.
During his meeting with Speaker of the Senate of Pakistan Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani, he said ties between Tehran and Islamabad are beyond the neighborly relationship and stressed that Afghanistan's fate must be decided peacefully by Afghans themselves through dialogue.
When meeting with Speaker of the People's Assembly of Syria Hammouda Sabbagh, Raisi urged foreign troops to withdraw from the war-torn nation. "The remaining foreign forces must leave the Syrian territory as soon as possible so that the nation can begin the process of reconstruction powerfully and fast," he said.
Meanwhile, Raisi told ALBA Secretary General Sacha Llorenti that Iran views its ties with Latin American countries as one of its diplomatic priorities. He said the cooperation between the two sides plays an important role in countering the influence of the United States and other "arrogant" powers.
Supporters of Ebrahim Raisi celebrate his presidential election win with a "selfie" photograph in Tehran, Iran, June 19, 2021. /CFP
Trust between Teheran and the West is at a low point following last week's drone attack on an Israeli-managed oil tanker. The U.S., Britain and Israel blamed Iran for the attack, but Tehran denied any involvement.
In a televised speech on Tuesday, Raisi said he would take steps to lift "tyrannical" sanctions imposed by the United States after winning the formal endorsement of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to take office.
(With input from Xinhua)
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(Cover: Ebrahim Raisi (R) receives the endorsement decree for his presidency from Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, August 3, 2021. /Reuters)