Iran Says Willing to Improve Ties with Neighboring Countries

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (Tasnim)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (Tasnim)
TT

Iran Says Willing to Improve Ties with Neighboring Countries

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (Tasnim)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (Tasnim)

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said Tehran is willing to improve relations with neighboring countries, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported on Monday.

In a speech during the third Tehran Dialogue Forum 2022, Amir-Abdollahian said Tehran welcomes rebuilding trust and constructive cooperation with its neighbors, especially the Gulf countries.

He expressed Iran’s readiness to hold a meeting at the level of defense and foreign ministers of neighboring countries and countries bordering the Arabian Gulf to establish regional security in cooperation with these countries and enjoy a world where peace prevails.

The FM congratulated Qatar’s deputy foreign minister on the success of organizing the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and Doha’s cooperation with the Iranian football team.

In remarks about Ukraine, Amir-Abdollahian said Tehran’s fundamental policy is against the use of force and supports resolving the conflict through political means.

“Europe is paying the price for the policies of the United States towards Ukraine,” the FM stated.

He deemed as “baseless” the accusations against Tehran of providing drones to Russia and stressed that the West seeks to justify its support for the war through these accusations.

The forum kicked off its activities on Monday, with the participation of political officials, directors of think tanks and research institutes, intellectuals and researchers.

The event was held under the title: “The Neighborhood Policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran... An Approach to Friendship and Trust-Building,” Germany’s news agency DPA reported.

Amir-Abdollahian said the summit Jordan will host this week could help move forward the talks on reviving the nuclear deal with world powers that have been stalled for months.

Jordan will host the second session of the Baghdad Conference for Cooperation and Partnership on Tuesday.

The event will bring together Iraq and its neighboring countries, as well as France. The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and his assistant, Enrique Mora, the nuclear talks coordinator, will also attend.

Amir-Abdollahian said the event represents a good opportunity for Tehran to complete these talks.

The minister, who will represent his country at the summit, reiterated Iran's position, which holds the other party, especially the United States, responsible for not completing the talks that would revive the 2015 nuclear agreement.

He expressed hope to see “a change in the US approach” and for the US side to act in a realistic manner.

He urged Americans to choose between hypocrisy and the return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.



4 Dead, Including 2 Children, in Latest Migrant Shipwreck Off Greek Island

Greek Coast Guard vessels take part in a search and rescue operation following a shipwreck, where migrants drown off the island of Samos, Greece, November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sofianos Drapaniotis
Greek Coast Guard vessels take part in a search and rescue operation following a shipwreck, where migrants drown off the island of Samos, Greece, November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sofianos Drapaniotis
TT

4 Dead, Including 2 Children, in Latest Migrant Shipwreck Off Greek Island

Greek Coast Guard vessels take part in a search and rescue operation following a shipwreck, where migrants drown off the island of Samos, Greece, November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sofianos Drapaniotis
Greek Coast Guard vessels take part in a search and rescue operation following a shipwreck, where migrants drown off the island of Samos, Greece, November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Sofianos Drapaniotis

Four people, including two children, have died after a boat carrying migrants ran aground on a rocky shoreline on the eastern Greek island of Samos, officials said Thursday.
Sixteen people were rescued, but it remained unclear how many were aboard the boat. The Greek coast guard launched a search-and-rescue operation involving patrol vessels, lifeboats, and land teams to locate any potential missing passengers, The Associated Press reported.
A Greek government official said he expected the risk facing migrants to rise over the winter months, and blamed conflicts in the Middle East for a swell in illegal crossings this year.
The incident comes after eight migrants – six children and two women – died in a shipwreck off the island on Monday.
Samos and other Greek islands in the eastern Aegean Sea are key transit points for migrants crossing from Türkiye to the European Union, with arrivals in recent months that Greek authorities say is linked to ongoing wars in the Middle East and parts of Africa.
“The conditions are certainly not favorable,” Migration Minister Nikos Panagiotopoulos told private Skai television Thursday.
“They do not tend towards reducing the flow of migrants, but rather increasing them – with all the geopolitical turmoil, especially in the Middle East, with ongoing wars and other issues,” he said.
Panagiotopoulos said he expected the risk of tragedies in the eastern Aegean to increase in the coming weeks as weather conditions worsen, and added that Greece will renew efforts to seek European Union funding for border wall construction under the next Polish presidency of the EU, which starts on Jan. 1.
Separately Thursday, police announced the arrest of nine people accused of operating a smuggling ring that allegedly provided migrants with false and illegally used documents to travel to western European cities.
The group, active since July, provided migrants with safe housing, clothing, and travel documents before escorting them to Athens International Airport, police said. Fees for those services ranged from 3,000 to 5,000 euros ($3,150-5,250).