Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif and his Azeri and Turkish counterparts in their 6th tripartite meeting in Istanbul on Tuesday discussed expansion of economic ties between the three countries.

Asia: According to an Iran Press report, foreign minister Zarif congratulated the Turkish nation and the Turkish government on the occasion of Turkey's national day, and said: "A Hi-Tech knowledge-based economy can be very beneficial for the world, as well as for individual nations."

He added: "The three countries have excellent potential and capacities for a knowledge-based economy. We can use the private sector to boost economic cooperation between the three countries". 

Bilateral cooperation, regional and international issues formed the central themes of talks among the Iranian, Turkish and Azeri foreign ministers, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu and Elmar Mammadyarov.

Zarif arrived in Istanbul on Monday to attend the official opening ceremony of Turkey's biggest airport in Istanbul.

Upon arrival in Istanbul, Zarif said his visit was aimed at expansion of transportation and transit of goods and economic cooperation among the three neighbouring countries. 

He said the visit provided an opportunity for dialogue with Azeri and Turkish officials. Zarif added: "In the visit there will be talks on key regional issues."

Earlier, Mohammad Javad Zarif had met the counterparts separately to exchange views on Tehran-Baku and Tehran-Ankara relations.

A final statement was issued by the three foreign ministers after Istanbul meeting which is as follows:

At the invitation of His Excellency Mevlüt Çavu?o?lu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey and with participation of His Excellency Elmar Mammadyarov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan and His Excellency Mohammad Javad Zarif, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Sixth Trilateral Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs was held on 30th October 2018 in Istanbul, the Republic of Turkey. 

The Ministers agreed to:  

Emphasize their commitment to the Urumieh, Nakhchivan, Van, Ramsar and Baku statements adopted in the previous Trilateral Meetings of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs; 

Stress their strong will to further solidarity and cooperation among the peoples of the three countries based on common history, culture, religion and traditions;  

Continue close consultations on issues of common interest at different levels and platforms and within the framework of international and regional organizations, with a view to enhancing regional and international peace, security and stability; 

Stress their commitment to principles of international law, in particular, respect of and support for sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability of internationally recognized borders, peaceful settlement of all disputes, as well as non-interference in internal affairs;

Underscore the significance of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) which reflects the success of the multilateral negotiations and diplomacy; acknowledged that the successful implementation of JCPOA requires the complete fulfilment of the obligations by all the parties in order to allow them to fully enjoy benefits provided in JCPOA; 

Take into account the Islamic Republic of Iran’s compliance with the JCPOA as confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency which is part of the Resolution 2231 (2015) of the UN Security Council, recalled the commitments of all the UN members to contribute to the implementation of JCPOA; in this regard condemned unilateral sanctions as they negatively affect trade and commercial developments among their countries;  

Reiterate their firm commitment to strengthen their cooperation on the basis of the relevant international instruments in the fight against terrorism, violent extremism and separatism in all their forms and manifestations, transnational organized crime, illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs and precursors, illicit trade in arms, human trafficking, smuggling of migrants, money laundering, cybercrime, crimes against cultural and historical heritage, and other transnational security threats; 

Underline the favourable geographical location of the three countries situated on important international transit corridors, encourage further efforts to increase cooperation for the development of transport infrastructure to take full advantage of their transit potential and better integration to the international transit system; 

Stress the importance of large-scale projects for increasing interconnectivity between the three countries; and encouraged the full utilization of the potential presented by the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway that would be beneficial for the three countries, and underscored the importance of taking necessary steps for the earliest completion of Rasht-Astara railway line, and encouraging full capacity use of ports for the benefit of the three countries;   

Recognize internationally combined transport as one of the means of facilitating the orderly expansion of trade, underline the need to stimulate the development of smooth, economic and efficient multi-modal transport services to meet the requirements for promotion of trilateral trade; 

State the importance of conducting trilateral research, development, innovation and knowledge-based technological projects, in the field of science and technology among the relevant institutions of Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey; 

Underscore the importance of cooperation in the humanitarian sphere, including culture, education, science, health care, youth exchange, tourism and sports and expressed their  readiness to initiate and promote joint projects and events in these spheres; 

 

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Zarif arrived in Istanbul on Monday

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