Iran, Turkey no rivals in regional affairs: Deputy-FM

TEHRAN, Nov. 26 (MNA) – In a meeting between Iran’s deputy-FM Amir-Abdollahian and his Turkish counterpart on Tuesday, the two discussed issues on current regional affairs. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, while describing Tehran-Ankara relations as strategic, and stressing the importance of consultations between the two countries on regional issues, said, “Tehran and Ankara will, sooner or later, arrive at a joint political solution to combat the Syrian crisis.” He pointed to the US request of Iran to join the coalition against ISIL and Iran’s subsequent rejection of it and said, “the Americans do not act seriously upon their decision to combat ISIL and have assumed a paradoxical strategy in this regard.” “Iran and Turkey do not compete with one another in regional affairs and the Islamic Republic always welcomes Turkey’s development of ties with Persian Gulf states, including Iraq,” he said. In regard to Iraq’s situation he said, “it is improving, and we are determined to cooperate with and aid Iraq in its fight against terrorism. While respecting Iraq’s national unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, we are strongly opposed to some countries’ actions in disintegrating this country.” He also underscored the need to pursue a democratic solution in Syria through no military means or using terrorist groups and added that the Islamic Republic of Iran is against the policies of some external forces in arming the moderate resistance against the Syrian government. State Undersecretary for Bilateral Political Affairs (Middle East) Űmit Yalçin, for his part, underlined the shared links between the two countries and asserted that a few differences could not cause harm to these historical relations. He noted that Tehran and Ankara hold similar opinions in regard to the return of peace and stability to Iraq and Syria and stressed that resolving the problems in the Islamic world must be the priority in Iran and Turkey’s cooperation. He also maintained that any strategy to overcome regional issues particularly in Iraq and Syria without getting help from Iran would ultimately fail.