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)
TT

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.



Türkiye Insists on Two States for Ethnically Divided Cyprus as the UN Looks to Restart Peace Talks

UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Cyprus Colin Stewart, center, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar talk as they attend the UN's end of year reception at Ledras Palace inside the UNbuffer zone in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Cyprus Colin Stewart, center, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar talk as they attend the UN's end of year reception at Ledras Palace inside the UNbuffer zone in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
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Türkiye Insists on Two States for Ethnically Divided Cyprus as the UN Looks to Restart Peace Talks

UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Cyprus Colin Stewart, center, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar talk as they attend the UN's end of year reception at Ledras Palace inside the UNbuffer zone in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Cyprus Colin Stewart, center, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar talk as they attend the UN's end of year reception at Ledras Palace inside the UNbuffer zone in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Türkiye on Wednesday again insisted on a two-state peace accord in ethnically divided Cyprus as the United Nations prepares to meet with all sides in early spring in hopes of restarting formal talks to resolve one of the world’s most intractable conflicts.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Cyprus “must continue on the path of a two-state solution” and that expending efforts on other arrangements ending Cyprus’ half-century divide would be “a waste of time.”
Fidan spoke to reporters after talks with Ersin Tatar, leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots whose declaration of independence in 1983 in Cyprus’ northern third is recognized only by Türkiye.
Cyprus’ ethnic division occurred in 1974 when Türkiye invaded in the wake of a coup, sponsored by the junta then ruling Greece, that aimed to unite the island in the eastern Mediterranean with the Greek state.
The most recent major push for a peace deal collapsed in 2017.
Since then, Türkiye has advocated for a two-state arrangement in which the numerically fewer Turkish Cypriots would never be the minority in any power-sharing arrangement.
But Greek Cypriots do not support a two-state deal that they see as formalizing the island’s partition and perpetuating what they see as a threat of a permanent Turkish military presence on the island.
Greek Cypriot officials have maintained that the 2017 talks collapsed primarily on Türkiye’s insistence on permanently keeping at least some of its estimated 35,000 troops currently in the island's breakaway north, and on enshrining military intervention rights in any new peace deal.
The UN the European Union and others have rejected a two-state deal for Cyprus, saying the only way forward is a federation agreement with Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot zones.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is preparing to host an informal meeting in Switzerland in March to hear what each side envisions for a peace deal. Last year, an envoy Guterres dispatched to Cyprus reportedly concluded that there's no common ground for a return to talks.
The island’s Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides says he’s ready to resume formal talks immediately but has ruled out any discussion on a two-state arrangement.
Tatar, leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, said the meeting will bring together the two sides in Cyprus, the foreign ministers of “guarantor powers” Greece and Türkiye and a senior British official to chart “the next steps” regarding Cyprus’ future.
A peace deal would not only remove a source of instability in the eastern Mediterranean, but could also expedite the development of natural gas deposits inside Cyprus' offshore economic zone that Türkiye disputes.