Tehran: No Limit on Promotion of Ties with Neighbors

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani meets with Qatar’s Assistant Foreign Minister for Regional Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi (Nour News)
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani meets with Qatar’s Assistant Foreign Minister for Regional Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi (Nour News)
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Tehran: No Limit on Promotion of Ties with Neighbors

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani meets with Qatar’s Assistant Foreign Minister for Regional Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi (Nour News)
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani meets with Qatar’s Assistant Foreign Minister for Regional Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi (Nour News)

The Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said the country sees no limits to the enhancement of cooperation with the neighboring states.

Shamkhani made the remarks in a meeting with Qatar’s Assistant Foreign Minister for Regional Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi on Monday.

“Within the framework of neighborhood diplomacy pursued by the administration of (Iranian President Ebrahim) Raisi, development of all-out cooperation with neighboring countries is Iran's top priority in foreign relations and we set no limits in this regard,” Shamkhani stated.

According to the semi-official news agency Mehr, Shamkhani hailed the effective efforts made by Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and his government to help with regional and international issues in cooperation with Iran.

“Fraternal and constructive relations between Tehran and Doha can serve as a general model for (promotion of) ties with other regional countries,” said the top Iranian security official.

In his meeting with al-Khulaifi, Shamkhani underlined the necessity of removing obstacles to improve cooperation between Tehran and Doha in the fields of trade and commerce, proportional to the two countries’ political relations.

The top Iranian security official noted that some extra-regional countries seek to create misunderstandings in the relations between Iran and Qatar by abusing suspicious events, and it is necessary for the two countries to deal with this process with full vigilance.

The Qatari minister, for his part, expressed satisfaction with the agreement reached between Iran and Saudi Arabia to normalize relations. He stressed that the move was vital for boosting regional security and stability.

Earlier on Monday and before his meeting with Shamkhani, the Qatari official held a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed important regional and international issues.



Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala Released from Iran and Returning Home

This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
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Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala Released from Iran and Returning Home

This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)
This photograph taken in Pordenone on September 16, 2023, shows Italian journalist Cecilia Sala posing for a photo at the Pordenonelegge Literature Festival in Pordenone. (ANSA/AFP)

An Italian journalist detained in Iran since Dec. 19 and whose fate became intertwined with that of an Iranian engineer wanted by the United States was freed Wednesday and is heading home, Italian officials announced.

A plane carrying Cecilia Sala took off from Tehran after “intensive work on diplomatic and intelligence channels,” Premier Giorgia Meloni’s office said, adding that Meloni had informed Sala's parents of the news.

There was no immediate word from the Iranian government on the journalist’s release.

Sala, a 29-year-old reporter for the Il Foglio daily, was detained in Tehran on Dec. 19, three days after she arrived on a journalist visa. She was accused of violating the laws of the country, the official IRNA news agency said.

Italian commentators had speculated that Iran was holding Sala as a bargaining chip to ensure the release of Mohammad Abedini, who was arrested at Milan’s Malpensa airport three days before on Dec. 16, on a US warrant.

The US Justice Department accused him and another Iranian of supplying the drone technology to Iran that was used in a January 2024 attack on a US outpost near the Syrian-Jordanian border that killed three American troops.

He remains in detention in Italy.