Iran FM: We Are Working with Saudi Arabia on Stability of Region

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian speaks during a news conference in Tehran, Iran March 19, 2023. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian speaks during a news conference in Tehran, Iran March 19, 2023. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran FM: We Are Working with Saudi Arabia on Stability of Region

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian speaks during a news conference in Tehran, Iran March 19, 2023. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian speaks during a news conference in Tehran, Iran March 19, 2023. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian revealed on Sunday that he will hold a meeting “in the near future” with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah.

The Iranian government has proposed to Saudi Arabia three locations for the meeting, he revealed, citing the latest messages with Riyadh since the countries agreed to re-establish ties.

Amirabdollahian told a news conference in Tehran his country had agreed to such a meeting, although he did not list the three locations or say when such a meeting might take place.

Moreover, he added that ties with Riyadh had returned to normal after five rounds of talks in Baghdad.

On the Yemen crisis, the FM said the issue “is an internal Yemeni affair. We are working with Saudi Arabia on ensuring the stability of the region.”

“We will not accept any threat against us from neighboring countries,” he went on to say.

Amirabdollahian revealed that he will visit Moscow next week to discuss regional and international affairs.

He said Tehran had requested concrete evidence from Ukraine that proves that Iranian drones have been used in the war with Russia.

On relations between Iran and Egypt, he said: “We welcome the development of ties with Egypt as it plays an important role in the Arab world.



Türkiye Replaces Pro-Kurdish Mayors with State Officials in 2 Cities

Fishermen fish on the Galata Bridge during heavy rain in Eminonu district of Istanbul on 21 November 2024. (Photo by KEMAL ASLAN / AFP)
Fishermen fish on the Galata Bridge during heavy rain in Eminonu district of Istanbul on 21 November 2024. (Photo by KEMAL ASLAN / AFP)
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Türkiye Replaces Pro-Kurdish Mayors with State Officials in 2 Cities

Fishermen fish on the Galata Bridge during heavy rain in Eminonu district of Istanbul on 21 November 2024. (Photo by KEMAL ASLAN / AFP)
Fishermen fish on the Galata Bridge during heavy rain in Eminonu district of Istanbul on 21 November 2024. (Photo by KEMAL ASLAN / AFP)

Türkiye stripped two elected pro-Kurdish mayors of their posts in eastern cities on Friday, for convictions on terrorism-related offences, the interior ministry said, temporarily appointing state officials in their places instead.

The local governor replaced mayor Cevdet Konak in Tunceli, while a local administrator was appointed in the place of Ovacik mayor Mustafa Sarigul, the ministry said in a statement, adding these were "temporary measures".
Konak is a member of the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, which has 57 seats in the national parliament, and Sarigul is a member of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). Dozens of pro-Kurdish mayors from its predecessor parties have been removed from their posts on similar charges in the past, Reuters reported.
CHP leader Ozgur Ozel said authorities had deemed that Sarigul's attendance at a funeral was a crime and called the move to appoint a trustee "a theft of the national will", adding his party would stand against the "injustice".
"Removing a mayor who has been elected by the votes of the people for two terms over a funeral he attended 12 years ago has no more jurisdiction than the last struggles of a government on its way out," Ozel said on X.
Earlier this month, Türkiye replaced three pro-Kurdish mayors in southeastern cities over similar terrorism-related reasons, drawing backlash from the DEM Party and others.
Last month, a mayor from the CHP was arrested after prosecutors accused him of belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), banned as a terrorist group in Türkiye and deemed a terrorist group by the European Union and United States.
The appointment of government trustees followed a surprise proposal by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's main ally last month to end the state's 40-year conflict with the PKK.